Thoughts on China

It is surreal sometimes being in Shanghai. Its obviously China but right now I'm sipping a Starbucks latte, eating a french pastry (NOT on the diet plan) and watching Nacho Libre on T.V. So for your viewing pleasure here are a few more observations I've made on this trip...

Trip Stats:
Airline: United- Certainly not the best business class I've flown. So far the airline rankings are 1- Singapore Air 2- Lufthansa (good movies!) 3- NW Airlines (better chairs, movies just ok) and last... United (the worst chairs and movie selection). Am I becoming an airline snob? Maybe.
Hotel: Portman Ritz Carlton- I cannot sing the praises enough for this hotel. They pick you up in a beautiful Audi from the airport, then when you arrive they are waiting for you (know your name) and take you straight up to your room. The bed is amazing, the bathroom is a dream bathroom, and the gym is very nice. Staying here is not a chore.
Movies Watched: Harry Poole is Here, Wall-E
Books Read: Eat, Pray, Love

Observations:

1. On the top deck of the plane where my seat was you can see into the pilot's cockpit occasionally. There were at least 4-5 guys manning the plane. I'm guessing they were pilots, co-pilots and navigators. Probably due to the long flight they have to do shifts. If they want to go to the bathroom the stewardess has to go close a security gate of sorts (which I have to say didn't look too difficult to figure out how to break through) and then the pilots can come out of their secure zone and go potty. Seriously... How annoying. They should just put a bathroom in the pilot's area. But I've got to say I watched this whole process as closely as I watched my in flight movies. Fascinating!
2. I saw a swastika symbol on a buddha in a documentary. Strange... I did some reading and apparently its a common symbol in Buddhism and Hinduism which the Nazi's basically twisted and turned into their symbol.
3. Cheesy American Muzak is played in the Immigration hall of the Shanghai airport. Are we all supposed to like this stuff?
4. My business class seat reminds me a lot of the hover chairs in Wall-E... I hope I'm not that fat and lazy looking, but I do like the reclining chairs.
5. It is best not to watch the driver while taking a car here. I find ignorance is bliss and I somehow still arrive at my destination. I did notice that flashing your lights at the other cars means any of the following: "Hey you, I'm coming your way", "Hey get out of my way" or "You @$#^*&*!!!!".
6. Soup with chicken feet is surprisingly tasty. Just try not to focus on the foot in your bowl. I was told that new mothers eat this soup because its full of nutrients.
7. You can buy a decongestant here (with some help from the pharmacy tech) but then you won't be able to read the box. Hope there's nothing important on that box I need to know about.
8. A pair of Levi's here costs $1400 RMB that's about $200 USD! Yet there are a billion high end stores here. Who can afford this stuff? Its honestly cheaper to have your clothes tailor made from scratch than to buy a name brand item that was probably still manufactured in China.
9. They sing the Happy Birthday song in English... really! I was at a big birthday celebration for the staff and everyone spoke Chinese all over but as soon as it was time to sing there was the traditional birthday cake and song. I asked why and I was told it was translated to Chinese but everyone just sings it in English. Mostly this has become a trend for the younger generations in the past 20 years, the Chinese wouldn't have traditionally done birthdays like this unless it was a birthday ending in a big number like 9 (39, 49, 69 etc...).
10. Again I'm surprised that there is no issue with picking your nose or hocking a big loogie in a meeting.

Ciao Italia

Italy... Its so hard to wrap up all my experiences in the last two weeks in a post. I journaled while I was there some thoughts and observations. I had an amazing time. The most wonderful part of course was traveling with two of my dearest friends. I am so blessed that my relationships with these women continue to stay strong and a huge influence in my life. So here are a few pictures and highlights to start with. My observations are going to follow. Follow the dropshots link on the right and you can view the rest of the pictures.

Venice:

The crazy streets and narrow canals were fun to explore. I just loved people watching and seeing the architecture of this city built on the water in the middle ages. What would it have been like to live there? I would go stir crazy without green grass and trees. Still it's beautiful in a very unique way. The Island of Murano where they blow the Venetian glass was one of my favorites because it was more like a village and less crowded.

Florence:

The highlight of Florence was having Jaelyn come join us for a few days. It was so fun to just wander the city and shop together. I negotiated a good price on a fabulous leather jacket and purse. We had amorous Italian men in the market get a bit to friendly for our tastes, but it was memorable. I saw the most amazing scuplture in the world up close... The David. Now that is the perfect man. Seriously you can see the veins and sinews in the muscles in the scuplture. It was breathtaking. I caught a nasty cold that stayed with me into Cinque Terre and went to the Farmacia three times. I also saw the lovely Birth of Venus and Spring (Primavera) by Botticelli. I'm now a big fan of Bottecelli.

Cinque Terre:

The highlight was most definitely the place we stayed, Eremo Sul Mare. If you ever go you need to stay here. It's a hike up the hill but then you are in a secluded villa overlooking the Meditteranean Sea. It was so peaceful and relaxing. A good end to our trip. We wandered the little coastal towns built into the hills, sat enjoying the ocean and food. Oh and the sweet cats that roam wild in the towns were so great. I'm cuddled up with one of the four that lived at our B&B permanently. He was a sweetie. Don't go to Cinque Terre if you don't like cats. It used to be the "undiscovered" vacation area in Italy's Riviera but from the number of American's and Cruise ship tour groups we saw its no longer the undiscovered country.

This time its for ME!!!

I'm off to Germany tomorrow to meet up with Laurel and then we both head to Italy for about 2 weeks of much needed vacation! I am so ready for this. Today I sat out by the lake at work for a meeting and I just stared at the water thinking soon I'll be staring at the water in Italy and doing whatever I want!

I probably won't be able to blog while I'm gone because neither of us are lugging laptops around on our trip, which is probably best for both of us to get a real break. I may update facebook while I'm there, but no promises.

We will stay in Vicenza (outside of Venice) for a few days. Laurel used to work here and we get to stay in the house and take the train into Venice. Then after a few days we are off to Florence where we will meet up with Jaelyn who's coming down from Scotland. I can't wait to shop in Italy and see the amazing art in Florence. Then Jae leaves and Laurel and I head to Vernazza part of the Cinque Terre (five lovely little Italian villages on the Italian Riviera). Here I hope to just chill out and relax before we head back to Germany and I head home.

I'll of course post pictures and thoughts when I return. Until then ciao!

The Final Leg/Straw

Well all went great on my last day in China, but the trip home ran into a few snags. First my trip was to be just one layover in Tokyo and direct into Portland. I got to Shanghai's Pudong airport in plenty of time and it was no big deal. Its actually a fairly new and nice airport. After I boarded my flight we sat at the gate for about 30 or more minutes until the captain came on saying they were waiting for clearance from Air Traffic Control. After another 15 minutes we were still waiting. I don't know what the issue was but finally we started taxiing from the gate. Hooray! I might still have a 15-20 minute layover in Tokyo and maybe I could make my flight. No luck though, because once we got closer to the runway we sat again for what seemed like an eternity. I started thinking we'd never get out of there.

On arrival in Tokyo of course I got the lovely news that my flight had left without me and 5-6 other people on my original flight. I go to the re-booking area and thankfully NW had early notice we'd be late and had already re-booked many of us on alternate flights. Of course not one was direct like my original booking. So instead I rushed to make a Seattle flight just in time. Then that flight was delayed 30 minutes.

I get to Seattle and Customs clearance is required on your first stop/entry into the USA even if you have connections. I dutifully pre-fill my form out on the plane... Nothing to declare really. I get in the right line (US Citizens) and then I proceed to wait. And wait, and wait, and wait. The staffing for Customs in Seattle was ridiculous. They had one person for each line of at least 50 people or more waiting. I mean in China I was through Customs in about 10 minutes! It took at least 3x that in Seattle. Then you have to get your bag and take it through a security check. The bags didn't come for at least another 15 minutes. Then we watched numerous bags go around that weren't ours. I finally get my bag and get through security, but by then of course my connection in Seattle to Portland had already left (again).

I kept telling myself through each step, no point in getting upset. There's nothing I can do when this happens and eventually I'll get home. So I booked myself on the next available flight to Portland at 1pm. By they way I was originally scheduled to be home at 9 am in Portland. I get on the Portland leg and rejoice that I'm so close to being home. I get down to baggage claim and of course... No bag. Seriously, it was such a comedy of errors. Luckily I waited a bit longer and my bag arrived on the next flight in. Thank goodness Horizon flies into Portland so frequently. Even though it is literally a bus in the sky.

And that was my lovely end to the trip. I think I'm getting over jet lag. I think coming home is the worst in that regard. Ironically it helped to be forced to stay up most of the day switching planes so when I finally went to bed Saturday night I was exhausted. Problem is I still can't sleep fully at night. I'm getting more and more exhausted because I'm working so much right now and closing on my house. What insanity. I think I'll go to bed soon... Its 8:40.

XieXie!

That is thank you in Chinese. My trip here has been a great first visit! I know already I will be back for work probably a few times this year and already I have my favorites and lists of what to do when I return. Not to mention where I can eat (Element Fresh was an awesome tip from Callie!). Not too mention California Pizza Kitchen and the great little french cafe chain Paul that I found.

No surprise but I will definitely be shopping more now that I know where to focus! Usually by the end of a trip I realize I should have saved my money in the beginning of the trip for the treasures that inevitably surface the farther you get in to your trip. It is so hard to pass things up though because of the fear that you might not be back to the same store or area before you leave. I MUST resist next time... Still I bought some wonderful cheap souvenirs this week and most of it was Chinese silk or tea related. I practiced bartering and "negotiating" on prices and learned the key is to half the price they first offer you at least or more and then always walk away. If the vendor really want to sell it to you they will stop you and take your "final price". Most prices are negotiated on calculators, so keep one handy in case their English is not so good. Also it helped today to have my Chinese coworker with me to know if I was being ripped off or not.

Top on my list of places is the fabric market we visited yesterday. Three floors of stalls where you can have clothing tailor made for you at amazing prices. We looked at cashmere coats that would be cut to fit you (and this is a huge when you are my size jacket sleeves in stores are much too long) for only $50 USD and you could probably negotiate more! I can't wait to go back when I have a little more time to wait for the finished products. How awesome to have anything tailor made any more. I am starting a list... Coat, Dress, PJ's and more will come to me I'm sure. Also I look forward to buying beautiful wall hangings, chop sticks and decorations to fit my new house.

I also can't wait to venture farther out of the city to see some more traditional areas of China. Also Beijing or Peking is high on my list. Its the home of the forbidden city and close to the great wall. I look forward to exploring it some day in the future. It is not so nearly overwhelming to think of traveling farther in China again now that I have been here and had a great starter course.

The People of China

In my one week here in China I've made a few observations about the people of China...

1. There is no problem with staring, spitting (and I mean hocking a really big one right by you), or being pushy. Things we would consider quite rude in the US are just commonplace in China and not rude at all. I just keep repeating "bu yao" (I don't want it) to the pushy vendors and ignoring the blatant stares I receive. Yet at the same time I find the people to be extremely friendly and generous and smiles come easily. There is an air of generosity that we just do not have a concept of.


2. There is still very much a concept of the "People" of China as a hold over from the stronger days of the government. The people are still the "People". In fact today I was in the People's Square of the city and the patriotic flags and police every where really reminded me of the older pictures I've seen of this country in the media. Surrounding this though there is an amazing influx of the "new" in buildings, business and ideas. Things that would have never have been tolerated in the past are now creeping into this culture.


3. Consumerism is alive and well in China. On every corner it felt like there was a Starbucks and a huge shopping center. So much to spend your money on here and all the big brands are definitely making their presence known. Obviously this drives my company's business success but I can't help but be conflicted over this. I guess it is inevitable that all cultures will want the "new" and "trendy" but I was telling my new friend today that I hope they hold closely to their culture and don't take too many cue's from the West.


4. Business Cards are very important and there is a definite method for giving and receiving them. Reminder to self... Order more official business cards.


5. Look both ways when crossing the street and no the cars will not stop for you and neither will people move to avoid you. So either stand your ground or get out of the way. This must be a by product of so many people in small spaces.


6. No need to tip here (HOORAY!!!). Its so relieving to not always be digging in your purse for small change for tips.

Shanghai is the New York City of China

This is what I have determined as we wandered the city. First there are tall high rise and sky scrapers as far as the eye can see. I took a picture from my hotel window and it’s just a packed skyline. Well for as far as you can see… There is a constant haze and fog surrounding the city from all the pollution! It is very bad and in fact at the end of the first night of wandering a bit my throat was sore from it. There are also so many people in every direction and no personal space. They are packed in like crazy.
Today we went on a few account visits so we were out in the city a bit more and mostly in some of the main shopping areas of Shanghai. We went to the flagship Nike Shanghai store that was incredibly impressive inside. It was on a shopping drag that reminded me so much of Time Square in NYC because of the sheer number of people and the neon advertisement signs everywhere. I bought quite a few things already on this trip and as a side noted… I need to stop shopping! There are products and colors here that we don’t have in the US, so I had to get them. The worst part of shopping in foreign countries is that I never seem to keep track of the exchange rate and what is a good deal. So I’m probably paying way too much for some of these things but its not fully registering.
Shanghai is definitely where the Chinese come to shop. It’s the shopping mecca. I can’t afford half the brands I’ve seen here. Hermes, Dior, Cartier, Gautlier etc…I don’t even know who has the money to shop at these stores. Obviously the wealthy, but I’m not sure who those people are yet. It is definitely not the picture of China that I grew up seeing in pictures with typical communism Mao suits on all. In fact we were joking that they seem to be making up lost time here by wearing every color in the spectrum and they have no qualms about mixing and matching any print/color combo you can imagine. The city is very cosmopolitan and full of amazing restaurants, stores, amazing architecture in the buildings.
There are also so many contrasts of the old and the new. It was not uncommon today to see bicycles pulling carts down the street right next to the main shopping malls full of high end name brands. And that can even be defined deeper in how old is “old”. For example we wandered the area of the Bund (pronounced bunned). The Bund is a collection of old historic buildings (circa 1920’s or so) where many of the old embassies used to have offices. So many have wonderful art deco architecture! It’s a great walking street and we had dinner at a beautiful restaurant there where I sat with a gorgeous view of across the river of the newer financial district. Of course polite as always the best seats were reserved for us to enjoy the views. So far I think I can definitely handle visiting Shanghai often. Which is good because I know its in the plan for this year for me already. I'm so very happy to have a Starbucks and a slew of nice "western" resturants near the hotel. P.S. the Ritz Carlton is FANTASTIC. I love it. I'll post some pic's to Dropshots.

Yes people, I have my passport!

I'm off to Shanghai today for the first time. 13 hours on board with a stop in Tokyo. This is actually my shortest distance to travel yet. 13 hours is nothing compared to the 24 it took to fly to Bangalore. I've got a good book to read (thanks Andrew) , magazines and music so I should be set! I'm only in Shanghai for a week. I'll do my best to take photos and blog about the experience. I still can't always believe this is my job to travel the world. I LOVE IT!

Coming soon...

CHINA!

Yep, I have to finally go. In fact I think I'll be going a few times this year and sounds like another India trip possibly in the next year. But China for sure in July I think.

More pictures

I've added a link to my sidebar for this site to my dropshots site where I've got all of my pictures from India and Germany posted in case you are interested.

Also I'm proud to say that Indian clothes are in style. Anthropologie has an entire collection devoted to Indian designers and styles! I love that I bought all my Indian clothes actually in India for I'm sure 1/4 the priced of Anthro's clothes. I actually wore one of my favorites from there on Sunday and got so many compliments, one of which was "Did you buy that at Anthropologie". Hee, hee, hee... I love being ahead of the trends!

Ich liebe Duestchland!

Sorry I feel remiss in not blogging more on this trip. So much happened its hard to find time to record it all. I promise I'll do some make up posts when I get home tomorrow. For now though a quick update...

I'm in Germany visiting my good friend Laurel. It feels so strange to just be stopping for a few days for a visit. Normally if I was coming to Europe I'd stay for at least a week or two. For this trip since I'm flying through Frankfurt I'm visiting for just four days. It so awesome to just be a part of German life and not be in a hotel! I've loved going to the grocery store and buying fresh crossaints in the Backerei (Bakery). I keep joking that its a gastronomical tour of Germany because each day its "what are we going to eat?"!

So the first day we had Spargel soup. Spargel is white asparagus that is in season and a local specialty here. It is SO good, I'm making Laurel take me to get more before I leave. I've had fantastic bier (beer) und wein (wine). We had eis (ice cream/gelato). We had fantastic Italian food. Then on Sunday I went to chapel with Laurel on the US military post here and after we had a very "American" bbq. So its been all over the map for us. I loved every minute of it!
New picture of Spargel soup...mmm...mmm...good!!!

There are only three flavors of India: Spicy, Spicer and SUPER Spicy

Every day for lunch in the office the manager I work with here has food ordered and delivered for us. Its nice to have it just show up and helps us stay productive. The first two days they got us some fairly "American" food so today when the suggestion was Indian "Veg" as they call it or something more my normal I decided lets be adventurous and go Indian "Veg", mostly because the India team eats what we eat. Many Indian's are Vegetarians because of their religion so there are vegetarian or "Veg" as they say options and "Non-Veg" options on every menu. I did end up with some more mild chicken brisas (I'm guessing at the spelling) for lunch and then I decided to try a little dab of the curry that came too. Bad idea... I tasted it and then proceeded to have my mouth feel like it had been numbed with Novocaine for the next 30 minutes. They were all laughing at me. I've been trying small portions of Indian food since I've been here and its been really good so far, but I've steered away from the more standard spicy food. But really there is nothing here that isn't spicy! We got pizza yesterday and the vegetarian pizza had a ridiculous amount of spices on it. I was so surprised at the first bite. Tomorrow I guess we are getting Mexican food for lunch. Who knew there would be Mexican in India?!


I did discover that one of my new favorite Indian foods is called Masala Dosa. Its essentially a sort of whole wheat crepe filled with curried potatoes and onions. It is SO yummy. Its a breakfast food and I order it every day. I also discovered Caffe Coffee Day, the local Starbucks if you will. Their lattes are quite a bit smaller than the huge sizes we have in the US, but its been pretty good. Today I did the conversion and realized I got a latte for about 1 US dollar. Seriously, that right there is a reason to move to India. Cheap coffee. But believe me there are many reasons not too also. For example the power goes out in the office at least once maybe a few times a day randomly. Thank goodness for laptop batteries and auto save!


Another observation... There is a servant to do every little task in India! There are guys who sit in the elevators and press buttons all day. There are guys who do nothing but clean the bathrooms all day. They are always lurking in the hall near the bathrooms. Yesterday I tried to clean up the lunch pizza boxes and got in trouble for doing so, because there are people to clean up after you. I feel like such a lazy slob here, but its just so ingrained in the culture. I mean people even expect the waiters to serve the meal to them in restaurants. I just reach over and serve myself and the waiters rush over try and take over for me. Seriously a different world here. I laugh because in the US they won't even empty my trash at work now!

The autorickshaws (which consequently are not allowed to come in to my hotels driveway and property area).


You can kind of see the cow wandering through traffic (this is rush hour). Every one just honks and drives around them because cows are sacred to the Hindu's. Many have their horns painted and decorated. They just wander the city. Some might have homes and others might be strays.

The night life in Bangalore... We went to this hysterical club on the top floor of a large office building that was totally empty because apparently we were there on the wrong night. Its extremely busy on Bollywood night (Indian pop music of sorts) but on our night it was 80's music and that obviously doesn't draw a crowd!

This is MG road, there's an MG road in every major city. Stand for: Mahatma Gandhi

Landed!

I'm in Bangalore India! The flight was over 24 hours to get here and thank goodness it was just two flights. Lufthansa is pretty nice and I watched three movies, two TV shows and slept a good portion of the time. The service doesn't compare with Singapore Air, but it was still nice. A huge chunk of frequent flier miles added to the list.

The airport was quite an experience (apparently a nice new one has been built but it wasn't open in time for us to go through it) and thank goodness we had a driver because on exiting the airport it was complete and utter insanity. Cars and traffic everywhere! The traffic here is insane. Here's a pic of our drive in to work today, no lanes really are used and apparently we were on a one way road but people were coming from the other direction for a while! There is absolutely no order and we've seen quite a few fender benders. People just bump into each other, back up and keep going. Tons of motorcycles and of course no one wearing helmets and auto rickshaws (I'll take a pic of this for a later post).

Since arriving we've been with a co-worker from the States who is from India which has made our transition so much easier. He essentially gets us everywhere and speaks to the drivers so we are just along for the ride, its fantastic! We had a little tour of the city Sunday and have done some shopping and started work in the office yesterday. Everyone is hospitable as always.

For breakfast there is this yummy Indian food called Dosa. Its like a crepe that is filled with curried potatoes and onion and it is just FANTASTIC. I tried it on suggestion from a co-worker who was here months ago and its so good.

I'll write more later. Here are a few pic's of our tour of Bangalore on Sunday. It reminds me a little of a city you'd see in Mexico or South America. The heat, the crazy driving, the extreme switch from nice new buildings to total poverty.

Karnataka Federal Building (Bangalore is the capital of the region/state of Karnataka).

A botanical garden we visited, Bangalore is known as the city of gardens (and the Silicon Valley of India).

Boys playing Cricket (the national past time) in the street. They loved talking to us and finding out we were from America. Very cute!

Another good surprise

So I have been weekly trying to meet up with a friend to pray together over our lives. Of course my traveling and adventures we pray for (hence the post here and not my other blog). My anxiety around this next trip has been pretty high in some areas, but a really a big one was that I'd have to travel from New Delhi to Bangalore myself after going to the Taj Mahal. My friend prayed that God would help me with this and maybe provide a nice travel companion on the way back.

Low and behold this week a woman who I work with, who is going to Bangalore also, stopped by and said she wanted to go to Taj but would prefer to go with a group. She just happens to be flying into the Delhi the weekend we are going. Now she's working out staying in the same hotel and she'll fly down to Bangalore the same day I do also. So I have now been covered and have a buddy to do the last leg of the trip back with. So cool...

Discovered

My passport was found! I got a call yesterday from Gustav's. I'd gone there for dinner the night before I was to leave and my passport must have fallen out of my purse when I went to pay. I'd called repeatedly and someone had even looked in the booth for me but hadn't seen it. Then Wednesday I get a call and since I'd left my phone number they contacted me immediately. I now have it in my possession again, no need to go to Seattle and get a replacement or rush to get my visa's again.

Seriously what an ordeal! I was definitely not supposed to go to China that's for sure. Hopefully I can get there soon.

Update

Just to update you all on my passport nightmare... I got a lot of teasing at work today of course it was to be expected. But I feel good knowing some other people have had the same issue. Because of my India trip being so soon and requiring a special visa I have to go up to Seattle to apply in person to expedite the process. This way I can get my passport back in time to submit it for the visa and still travel. So I'll be heading up on Thursday. Anyone up for a road trip? :-)

My nightmare

It all began this morning as my cell phone for work rang out in my hallway. I bolted up and realized my alarm did not go off and the driver for my trip to the airport was here. I jumped out of bed and threw on clothes and ran out the door. I'd been up very late finishing packing and cleaning up my house because my parents were going to stay here while I was gone. As I was in the town car I started checking to ensure everything was in my purse and my passport was missing! I've been in a panic for the last 8 hours since this discovery.

I had my passport yesterday as I was travelling around doing a few last minute errands. I had it zipped into my wallet. I remember because I moved it two times while I was out and about to get a credit card out. Today its vanished. I called every place I went and no one has turned it in. I've looked in the parking lots I went to. I looked through my car. I've cleaned my house, unpacked all of my bags, sorted through trash even and still no passport. I can't leave without it. I have a photocopy only, and I doubt that would be sufficient to get into a country requiring a separate visa!

I called the sheriff's department today and reported it lost or stolen. I'm just praying it shows up somehow. If its not found by tomorrow I will report it lost or stolen to the government which means if I do find it, it is unusable and I have to get a new one. I've had two friends offer to come help look through my house, Erin is on her way now and maybe she can see something I've missed. Otherwise I'll be on the phone cancelling reservations and sending an apology to my coworkers for not coming at the last minute, yet AGAIN! Grrrr.....

This has been one of the most frustrating and panicked days of my life. I feel so bad that I am missing my flights and cancelling a trip that was already cancelled once. This was the make up for that first cancellation. I just feel like everyone will think I'm an idiot for losing it. Then again I'd rather be dumb for losing it and not having it be stolen which is scarier. My only consolation is that my Dad called today and said he kept waking up last night feeling there was something wrong with me and worried about me. He just kept praying for me. He said maybe I wasn't supposed to travel to China right now. I've been praying all day that the God of all miracles who can do anything would make my passport miraculously appear so I could travel and it hasn't. There must be a reason. I know that I need to rest in God's will in this matter and trust how this has been orchestrated, but I'm really struggling to understand why this has happened? I just recall one story from women's retreat recently where a mom just felt her daughter was in danger and was praying and praying for her, and when she finally got a hold of her her fears were true. Her daughter had had a crazy experience with a mugger and was totally shaken but safe. Maybe I'm being protected from something I can't see?

Freak out number 592

Oh my word! I just found out that in India I need to dress extremely conservatively. I had planned on dressing modestly but I didn't realize that meant no capri's no sleeveless tops etc... I have no idea what I'm going to wear! I just browsed some travel sites and even they say you'll feel most comfortable covered neck to toes and long sleeves. Hello, its hot there! So I'm just praying I find some clothes in my wardrobe that will do, and I definitely need to buy some loose long pants to wear. I asked someone at work who went recently to let me know what she wore. Apparently the first day there she was stared at so much she totally changed her wardrobe for the rest of the weeks she was there. Sigh... I'm not looking forward to this. Apparently everyone in the US is half dressed according to Indians. Oh and I didn't dress this way in Singapore where there were about 15 Indian men and now I wonder what they thought of me?!

On a happy note... I bought a new camera today and hopefully I'll be taking some better pictures now. The last trip my camera just drove me nuts!

India Plans

Since I'll be in India for two weeks I've been trying to plan a side trip to see the Taj Mahal one weekend. I figure what else have I got to do, hang out in the hotel? I'm going with a co-worker for just a quick trip. Its been interesting planning our travels there. We've been told repeatedly that its best to hire a private driver as opposed to a taxi in India. So we contacted a co-worker recommended to us who lives in New Delhi and asked for some help with our plans and they totally offered for us to use their personal driver for the day when we are in town for free! Seriously amazing to have a private driver take us the 2-3 hours to Agra from Delhi and not have to pay for a train ticket or out of our own pockets. How cool is that? This guy doesn't even know us! He also offered to kick his kids out of their rooms so we could stay at their house if we couldn't get a hotel. Not too mention another person in our Bangalore office has already said they could help us go to a nearby city for a sight seeing tour on their day off. Again someone we've never even met.

It's just one more way I've noticed how hospitable people are when we come to visit them. Random strangers who only know your name are willing to take you places and drive you around. It makes me realize how inhospitable I can be. Especially here on the West Coast at times. When I was in Memphis I was treated extremely well. We can be pretty aloof, and protective of our off work time. Its made me realize that when people come to visit the US I need to go to out of my way to offer my help if they need it.

Communication Joy of the Day

Today I was helping someone via email who's an ESL (english as a second language) speaker. Most of the time I can figure out what people are trying to tell me via email, but at times the words just don't come out right. I'm never sure if its that they sound similiar or it was just a typo but they can be pretty funny. After going back and forth on an issue I got this as a reply "I am sorry for lagging you. But you are super woman of all solution". You can't help but smile! I assume lagging was really nagging, which they weren't doing. And yes quite frankly I AM a super woman of solutions! These emails really make my day.

I really don't mind the funny grammar and vocabulary, because honestly I'm sure if I was trying to speak in their language it would be WAY worse and they'd be laughing at my sad attempts. Though I really do need to attempt to get familiar with at least some of the other languages in my region. I'm taking a very basic mandarin class with some other people in my area in the next month. We'll see how that goes because its an entirely different alphabet on top of it being a different language for me to sort out. I want to build a little familiarity though.

Next Tour

So I found out this week I have two new trips on the docket. I'll be going to China since I had to cancel last time (early March) for just a week. I'm glad it will be a one week trip. So tune in again in a month and you'll hopefully see some info on China!

In April I am off to India for two weeks for our big project's implementation and since we fly through Frankfurt I'm stopping on the way home to see my friend Laurel's home in Germany for a few days. So I'll be gone for three weeks probably, but I get a bonus trip out of it to see a friend! My biggest worry right now is the accomodations in India and the food. I was warned to not drink the water, don't even brush your teeth with, it oh and don't eat things like salad (because its washed in the said water). AGH! Two weeks of this vigiliance! Also the infrastructure in India still is being developed, so electricity goes out randomly and quite frankly I've been warned it pretty much smells everywhere all the time (probably just because we so aren't used to it). BUT, I am excited to see cool Indian architecture (my favorite way to take in a culture) and buy some awesome sari fabrics.

Relief!

I spent the weekend in San Francisco on my way home visiting my friends Margo and Matt and their cute three girls (my girls!). I always have so much fun with them, and there is nothing better than snuggling and hugging the girls when I’m with them. We did the typical tourist trap of the Piers and Fisherman’s Warf and of course Ghirardelli square. The chocolate store at Ghirardelli was so crowded it was nerve wracking. I of course had to buy some cool turquoise jewelry off a street vendor. I loved it and I got it for cheaper than he asked, as I’m not a pro bargainer I was proud of just not paying full price which normally I would.

Frost Family Portrait

Margo and Hannah

Sophia and I

The Sea Lions at Pier 39

I got a great deal also on the hotel. It was through Priceline. If you haven’t used it you should! Go the name your own price route, and go low in your asking price. I basically said I wanted a 4 star hotel in San Francisco downtown area (so we could walk everywhere) and said I’d pay 80 a night (which now makes me wish I’d gone lower) and I ended up at the very nice Hilton downtown. If you aren’t picky about which hotel you stay at and you don’t mind not earning frequent stay points, this is the best way to go. I could have even chose a boutique hotel (which seemed a little risky, but in SF it probably would have been very cool). So we discovered that even on the 17th floor it could be quite loud in the city (which seriously never sleeps, just like Singapore, am I the only one who doesn’t party until 4 in the morning??). But hey it’s not like I paid full price, so no big deal.

Matt took one for the team as I called and took the girls home for the evening and let Margo and I have the rest of the evening and day in the city together. It’s always just such an awesome time with Margo. I was happy just shopping (when doesn’t that make me happy). We found H & M, one of the coolest stores, and its affordable. I bought some great stuff there. Then we went to dinner at a fun Irish restaurant which is clearly one of the more lively spots downtown. It was so loud and packed, and frankly a bit of a meat market which is funny because Margo and I were just laughing at it. We had a great dinner and drinks.

So the next morning we wander down to get Starbucks and I decided to return two things I’d bought the day before that didn’t compare to my last minute H&M finds. Plus quite frankly I need to be more fiscally responsible, so a few good things are fine, but more than that and I need to really rethink things! We just took our time and my flight out was at 1, so somehow in my head I just kept thinking 12 for my flight.

Um yeah… Noon somehow that translated to leaving the hotel near noon, and then Margo got delayed getting the car from the garage and as I was waiting it finally hit me that I was in fact an idiot! I should have been at the airport by that time. I’m going to blame jet lag, but really I was just being a space cadet. So when Margo finally gets to me, we are both stressed because we’ve both realized we are cutting it way too close. Not a great way to end a fun weekend with one of my favorite people in the world. I just decided it didn’t matter, I was stressed but I would get home somehow. I might have to take a later flight but I’m sure I could get something. So as I waited on hold to get the emergency travel number for work I tried to calm down as Margo frantically tried to navigate the city which she hates driving in. In the end I was on hold the whole way to the airport so I just ended up hanging up and getting to an agent at the desk faster. Where I found out the flight was 2 hours delayed and I was now more than on time! Seriously, I believe God had favor on us today. Margo could go home not feeling bad that I missed my flight (I called her immediately so she wouldn’t worry) and I could stop stressing about my last leg home. Relief. Yet again I am sure people can ascribe this to luck or convenience, but I know what it really was. My Father looks out for me even in the minor details of life. I can’t wait to take a shower in my own house and sleep in my own bed tonight.

Change in plans...

So my original plan was to go on to Shanghai from Singapore, but as the week progressed it seemed pretty evident that the project here in Singapore needed the most help. So we cancelled my China portion of the trip. I'm sure I'll be there soon though. Its been interesting working with some of the different cultures. We are all very different people, and definitely our senses of humor are different. Already I've noticed that my Indian co-workers are very literal. Which when you are a sarcastic person with dry humor it doesn't really go over. I've also decided that they take more pictures than anyone I've ever seen. Literally everywhere I go there is a camera snapping pictures. I feel like I'm followed by the paparazzi. Which by the way... In my stop of in Seoul I am pretty sure some guy was stalking me and trying to take my picture in the airport. But when I noticed him he pretended to be doing something with his camera. Probably the blond hair.


Boat we took a tour on for dinner- Dinner wasn't so good, but the ride was. This was where there were the "paparazzi" everywhere.


Singapore seems to be just as much of a melting pot as the US. They have a ton of ex-pat's and are trying to attract more people to their little Island. There are Indians, Chinese, Malay's and more I'm sure. The food seems to be a mix of many different areas. I've been pretty good with the food, but yesterday I'd hit my limit and my new friend Jodie and I found an Italian restaurant in her Lonely Planet book and it was so fantastic. Seriously we couldn't eat any more rice! Oh and did I mention that I have a Starbucks across the way that I'm having breakfast at every morning... Some things are just nice when they are familiar. I did try an "American" breakfast in the hotel for room service... Their sausages were seriously like hot dogs. I couldn't eat them. The rest of the food was close enough.

The Singapore people are very friendly. The land here is very limited so they actually buy land (literally dirt) and add it to the Islands to give them more space to build and grow. Indonesia is only one kilometer away so they build to the south. So far it feels very much like Hawaii, but more Asian of course. Oh and my hotel is in the center of the hugest shopping district. Its literally malls in every direction. Its dangerous for me. I think I'll be checking out some of the sales tomorrow.

I took a cheesy tour today with the group from work, actually two tours with a stop in Chinatown for some Dim Sum. All of Chinatown is getting ready for Chinese New Year so it was really festive and fun.

Singapore Merlion- This is the symbol of Singapore and we saw it on our "cheesy" tour. Singapore means Lion City.


Dim Sum- This is a traditional Chinese New Year Dish, they only get it for New Year so they were very excited. Part of the fun is that everyone takes their Chopsticks and mixes all the ingredients together. It was really yummy. Its shredded veggies (I think...) and it was quite yummy. Chopsticks are not my forte, but I tried...

Some of the crew I was working with at a great resturant in the "ex-pat" area of Holland village. Awesome atmosphere, very mod and very good food!

Drunk Couple at the Bar- Seriously couldn't resist this one. We are at a bar that is literally under the escalator on Orchard Rd (huge shopping area). There was a live band that took requests and the lady slumped over was yelling to the band for a while and then about 15 minutes later I looked back and she and I presume her husband were slumped over asleep in their chairs. It was HYSTERICAL. Sorry its so grainy... Took it on my crackberry, I mean blackberry.

Chinatown- Putting up decorations everywhere. It was very festive and there were ton's of cheap souvenirs to bargain for.

Chinatown Stall- I think this was some kind of dried meat, like a sausage. They were all shriveled and weird. I didn't try one, but decided it was worth a pic.

Chinatown temple-

Tiny blessings, with some tiny bubbles too! (Day 1 in Singapore)

Well my first trip is here. I am heading to Singapore and then to Shanghai for 2 weeks, with a lovely stop on the way home to see my dear friend Margo and her family in San Francisco. I was equally looking forward to and dreading this first trip. The weeks leading up to this were packed with holiday activities and last minute travel and work preparations. The stress of traveling to Asia for the first time was definitely getting to me. Would I make it, would I get lost, what would I eat etc… Worry can just kill you. First my visa was held up at the Indian consulate for a week because I had applied for the wrong type (tourist instead of business) after attempting for a week or so to work this out with everyone at work on vacation I called and the visa was approved for tourist anyway… A blessing, because I needed my passport to get the more timely Chinese visa and back to me in time to travel. It arrived just in time. A coincidence? Not really. In my world there really aren’t coincidences but divine interventions, and I think this was my first. Thank you…

Then on to more tiny blessings… My travel was booked a little last minute due to my quick transition to my new role and the holidays in the midst of everything so I couldn’t get the normal Northwest flight to Singapore that everyone usually takes and alas the only bookings available were through Singapore Air. When I told everyone at work I was going through Singapore Air they were quite jealous, but I had no clue what that meant. Well I soon found out that they are the BEST airline in the world. My seat in Business Class (that’s right we get to go Business Class and I am so grateful) was the size of a comfy leather recliner which converted to a quite comfortable bed with all sorts of great storage compartments and your own personal entertainment center, full of my usual addicting shows and movies. I sat back after a lame 4 hour layover in SFO in my cozy seat with a complimentary glass of Champagne prior to departure thinking… Finally I’ll be able to get some good rest and sleep! It had been a very frantic week full of late night packing for the trip and getting up to get a 7:30 flight, this was not my idea of a good way to start the trip off. The flight was uneventful, and except for an annoying stop in Seoul where we had to actually disembark and re-board a different plane, the 20 hours (that’s right 20 hours) went fairly quickly and comfortably. I never once wondered when the food was coming, and I swear every half hour a stewardess came by with something delectable to eat or drink. The guy next to me and I totally enjoyed laughing over the luxury of it all and that we just needed to fly this airline to get some normal R& R. I have really no idea how much it cost as I didn’t book it, but I’m pretty sure it’s out of my normal budget range.

I arrive in Singapore and there is a wonderful driver standing with my name on a sign right outside of custom’s waiting to drive me and tell me the joys of Singapore all the way to the hotel. My first observation was, nice BMW then hey they drive on the wrong side of the road here (a carry over from the British colonial days I’m sure). He was very fun and told me all sorts of fascinating things! I didn’t even need a tour guide when I had this guy. My second observation was that I couldn’t believe that at 1 in the morning everyone was still out downtown eating, shopping, and going to movies. Don’t these people sleep?! That’s all I wanted to do. You’d think it was 8 pm with the number of people out and about. I arrived and my room booking was in a very nice club room, which was another tiny blessing because everyone else I work with was booked in a lower level room (which I was moving to the next day), because of some booking confusion between the Singapore office and ours. So for my lovely first night I had a very luxurious room with a massage chair that I sat in for about an hour to work out the knots from traveling. What a nice first day/night (pics below).

In the midst of the stress and preparation for this trip I find that the tiny blessing and tiny bubbles I received along the way were just what I needed to ease my fretful mind. I’m not sure why I’m always surprised at how I am cared for, but I know I have a divine father who is as always wanting to give me good and perfect gifts. Always just what I need when I need it. That is true peace.

Pic's of the First Glimpses of Singapore

The first lovely room I had.

The fantastic massage chair:

The view:

The second room, which smells like smoke (yuck). Not bad, but still I have to compare to the beautiful first one...

My new friend at work, Hana, and one of the colorful buildings of Singapore:

Let's Start at the Beginning

Welcome to my new travel blog! The purpose of this blog (web log for my not so techy friends) is to keep you updated on my travels and observations along the way. The title is a reference to one of my favorite books Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck. It is Steinbeck's memoir of his travels across the US in his Camper Rocinante with his french poodle Charley (I know some of you will LOVE that he named his Camper!). I don't have a dog to bring on my travels but I do have my trusty laptop and camera (which sadly do not have names, as I am just not that kind of girl). I hope to just share my thoughts as a novice traveler to parts of the world I have never been before.

How and why am I doing this travel? Well for one I took a job with our Asia Pacific region at work which now has me supporting our Asia Pacific countries and I'll be traveling to all sorts of places in Asia to do this. I do consider it an amazing blessing to travel the world and see things I would have never done on my own and all on the company dollar! Believe me I am traveling much better like this than I would on my own money. I've never been to Asia and this will definitely be an adventure for me.

I hope you'll enjoy my observations and maybe I will inspire you to travel more.