Japan - My Last Foray Into Asia.

I'm back in Hong Kong now though not for long. These past two weeks have gone by in a blur.

I arrived in Tokyo Wednesday afternoon, and explored the area while waiting for the guys from Australia to show up. Forcing ourselves up from our surprisingly comfortable tatami beds at 4:30 AM the following morning, we headed to the Tsukiji fish market. The fish market is massive, with half of all fish consumed in Japan passing through its doors. We watched as auctioneers sold 300 lb frozen tunas, painted the fish with the name of the buyer, and dragged them along the ground using hooks. After exploring the market, we stopped at a nearby restaurant, and enjoyed the freshest sushi of our lives at 7 AM.

With a full day ahead of us, and Shavuot beginning at 6:30, we set about exploring Tokyo. Each district is big enough to be a city on its own, so it was difficult deciding where to go in the limited time we had. We checked out the Sony building, which was cool. Sony turned the lower floors of its building into an Apple store-esque museum of Sony's latest technological advancements, so I got to see what a walkman mp3 player looks like. Amazing how much the brand has fallen from when it completely owned the portable music market. We then went to the famous four way intersection that you always see in movies. Growing crowds awaited each light change, and when indicated, a sea of people crossed the road in every direction (including diagonally). Next we checked out the government city center and the electric district.

We found the chabad house after an hour of wondering in the pouring rain, only to find that we were the last guys needed to make the minyan. Our hotel seemed closer on the map than it was in reality, and the walk was at minimum 45 minutes. We never would have found it ourselves, if not for someone from the community who volunteered to walk us home through the rain. Conveniently, he spoke Japanese, so when we got lost he was actually able to ask for directions. Here was something that surprised me about Japan - unlike in Hong Kong, Japanese locals truly do not know English, which makes getting around often quite complicated. The next day we found the chabad with no problems, though the rain did not let up for a second.

When the holiday was over we rushed out to catch the last train of the day to Nikko. Nikko is a small town north of Hong Kong, near the foot of Mount Fuji. The area hosts a number of beautiful shrines and buildings as well as a massive 97 m waterfall in a large national park. After a short hike to the Nikko Pak Lodge, we were pleasantly surprised with our accommodations.

The following week from Saturday night to Saturday night contains too many sites to describe each in detail, so I'm just gonna give you the gist. Also, a word of advice: if you ever go touring through Japan, buy the Japan Rail Pass. You can only buy it from outside the country, and it seems expensive at $300/week, but it is probably the best deal you can get on anything throughout Japan, giving you unlimited rides on almost every JR train throughout the country, including most bullet trains.

• Sunday: Explored the park and all the touristy sites in the area. Not too much to do, but the area is beautiful, and definitely worth checking out to see the incredible natural scenery of Japan. That night we went to an onsen, a Japanese hot spring. There are pretty strict cultural protocols that come with entering an onsen, but everyone was very friendly, and explained it to us as best they could with absolutely no English.
• Monday: Woke up 5 AM to get to Tokyo DisneySea before opening time. Don't ask why... To my surprise the day ended up being fun. The park was nice, and the fireworks show was actually really cool. I was hesitant when asked to go to Disney, but it turned out alright.
• Tuesday: Woke up early again to get to Disneyland before opening. This time I understood why everyone warned us to be there early. Half an hour before opening the lines were not insignificant, and when the doors parted people started sprinting. Seemed ridiculous to me at the time, but by eleven AM the wait at some rides was as long as four hours. With all due respect to Disney, those rides better be pretty good if I'm gonna wait three or four hours for a three minute ride. We ended up leaving a bit early to see some more of Tokyo, including the Imperial Palace, which was impressive from the outside, though we couldn't actually enter the castle grounds, since the royal family was currently living there. Afterwards we caught a train to Nagoya, where we would spend the night.
• Wednesday: Went to Nagoya Castle, which is really the only thing to do in the city besides for the Toyota museum. Made our way to Kyoto, and checked out Nijo Castle.
• Thursday: We crammed in as much as is humanly possible in one day in Kyoto. The city has seventeen UNESCO World Heritage sites, and in one day we hit eight of them. The Golden pavilion was strikingly beautiful, though the tour of the Kyoto Imperial Palace was probably the most interesting.
• Friday: Out by 6 AM, headed to Hiroshima to see where the a-bomb was dropped. The area where the bomb fell was once the center of a bustling industrial center. Today there is nothing left but one standing frame of a building. Though the rest of the city has been rebuilt, the area where the bomb fell has been kept as a memorial park. A museum on the premise was very well done, refusing to make any political statements or placing blame at one party. The only really political statement was a declaration by the government of Hiroshima demanding that North Korea cease its nuclear weapons tests. We were in Osaka by the afternoon, and visited the very impressive Osaka Castle. We made it to Kobe by 5:30, and were at the JCC before Shabbat began.
• Shabbat: Kobe is a beautiful city that once hosted a thriving Jewish community, when it was the world's pearl trading capital in the late 19th century. A beautiful JCC was built in the seventies, but now the shul has about 15 members, comprising mostly of Israelis who arrived in the last 15 years. Halfway through morning services a bunch of local university students joined us to see what Jewish prayers are like. Everyone was respectful, and it was funny to see the look on their faces in reaction to the Torah reading. Now I know what is must feel like for every Cathedral or Buddhist temple that has to deal with tourists going through their buildings all day as they try to pray.
• The meals were great, and conversation was interesting. I sat next to Hero, a Kobe local who decided to convert after surviving a childhood illness. He spoke about the strong feelings some Japanese have about Jews, many convinced that some of their ancestors were among the lost tribes of Israel. We arrived back in Tokyo after Shabbat and made our way to the airport. Overall our trip to Japan was short, but we definitely made the most of our time and got to see a good portion of the country. Seven cities in seven days isn't bad in my book.

So now I've got two days in Hong Kong, then back to the States. I can't believe my semester is almost over. These past few months have been among the best and most interesting in my life, and I'm looking forward to my return.

Two Weeks Down Under

I wrote this a few weeks ago, but got so caught up in finals and doing all the things in Hong Kong that I hadn't gotten around to doing that I never sent it out.

Better late than never...

Two Weeks Down Under

I just arrived back in Hong Kong after two weeks in Australia and New Zealand. Stepping into the airport felt like walking in on a quarantined Emergency Room, or maybe a crime scene. As we left the gate, a line of officers in gloves and face masks were doing spot checks for anyone who might look ill. A Labrador retriever stood by the door, smelling for disease (or so they said, at least). A handheld video camera recorded each of our faces as we disembarked, just in case someone turns up sick, so they can confirm our identities and put us in quarantine. High speed heat monitoring cameras checked for fever, still with each guard in uniform. As we left, a box of face masks were offered to each passenger free. It's clear Hong Kong has no interest in repeating its SARS experience, with good reason from what I've heard.

Australia and New Zealand were great. After a week of finals in Chinese language, history and philosophy, I was surprisingly relieved when the signs in Melbourne were in English only. Upon arriving in Melbourne, one can immediately feel that people here are more laid back than in Hong Kong or New York. There are no exit signs. There are signs for the "way out". You buy veges in the market, and no one checks for a ticket when you get on the tram. I took a taxi to Judah and Elie's dorm, where I was greeted with fresh burgers at midnight.

Judah and Elie live in a beautiful part of downtown Melbourne, a five minute walk from the University of Melbourne. The next day was Yom Ha'zikaron followed by Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israeli Memorial day and Independence day respectively), and we met up with Sam and headed into Caufield for an event held by the local Jewish community. The Jewish community in Melbourne is small but very strong, and I really like the people I met. The event was for graduates of B'nei Akivah, and most people were about my age and knew friends from back home. In Melbourne I went to the Victoria Market, the Melbourne Museum, and explored the universities in the area. All very nice, and the Melbourne Museum is highly reccomended. We stayed by a very nice family in Caufield for Shabbat, and I spent much of the rest of my time completing three essays that were due before I returned to Hong Kong. Wonderful that I can email in my papers, and the professors will never know that I am a few thousand miles away on vacation.

Next up was New Zealand. Given the limited time (only four days), we decided to stick to the north island for the entire trip. While I've heard the south island is incredible, the rest of the guys had already been there, so now I just have a reason to return in the future. New Zealand is beautiful. I completely understand why so many movies and TV shows are filmed out here. The landscape is just incredible. We started in Aukland, which was a pretty quiet town. There I celebrated my 21st birthday, which was exciting, though not as big a deal, as the legal age is 18 everywhere else in the world, so there was no practical differences between the day before and the day after. Still, you don't turn 21 everyday...

We had planned to rent a car, and I of course volunteered to be the driver. After so many months seeing cars on the wrong side of the road, I was excited to finally try it myself. One little problem, which I hadn't considered. After we paid, and while we were awaiting the car's arrival, the women behind the rental counter nonchalantly asked why we were renting the car for three days, when I could only drive until the end of the day? Confused, I looked over the license she handed back to me. I had neglected to check the expiration date on my driver's license. I forgot that NY state sends you a new license on your 21st birthday, to remove the big red "under 21" that marks top. Unfortunately, that license was at home in NY, far away from New Zealand. Luckily, one of the other guys agreed to drive, and everything worked out for the best. Still--very frustrating. This would become a bigger issue, as my debit card expired on the same day, leaving me with no way to get cash for two weeks.

With a fully packed Subaru station wagon we headed off to explore the north Island. First stop-- the Waitomo glow worm caves. this caves are unique in that lining the ceiling of the caves were little worms (technically fly larvae) that glow in the dark. The forest was beautiful, and after a boat ride through the caves, we went on a short hike to the top of a hill, where we watched the sunset.

After we finished the hike, we headed to Rotorua, to check in to our Hostel. The place was clean, with wireless internet, so I was happy. From time to time you could smell a distinct sulfur scent in the air, coming from the nearby volcanic springs.

The next day was set for adventure. We woke up early, and made our way to Sky Dive. I was very excited. We got there with no trouble, filled out the sheets, got dressed up, briefed on how to tandem skydive and watched the group ahead of us go. Unfortunately, as the plane landed to pick us up, the pilot shook his head and left the plane. It was too windy, and even though the other group went, they were shutting down operations for the day. No sky diving for us. Frustrated and with an open time slot, we asked the guys at the sky diving shop what they recommend. They talked up the rafting, and then called the people. They sent someone over to bring us there, and we decided to go wight water rafting instead. As was becoming abundantly clear, like most things in New Zealand, rafting was somewhat more intense here than in the States. We started with a traditional Maori prayer the guide said to the water spirits, we then proceeded down stream to class 5 rapids. numerous waterfalls dotted the way, including one 21 ft drop. We also tried a cool sport called rapid surfing which basically means paddling upstream the a small waterfall, and catching the undertow, pulling you into the waterfall and soaking the entire boat, but mostly drowning the guy on the front bench, which of course was me.

After a quick and cold swim, we finished rafting and headed over to the Zorbing center. For those of you who don't know, Zorbing is a Kiwi (what New Zealanders call themselves) invention. According to their official definition: a Zorb is a transparent bi-spherical rapid decent device. Basically it is a big inflated plastic ball with a hole in the middle for a person.
Add a little water, push it down a big hill, and you have a zorb. Zorbing turned out to be a lot of fun. Curious if it was possible to direct the movements, I jumped into the turns while going down. While I had no idea where I was or if I succeeded, I later found out that I had managed to roll onto the next track.

That night, we attempted to go to see a traditional Maori village. Unfortunately, the person at our hostel told us the wrong time, and we arrived half an hour late, to a deserted and dark front entrance. Heading off to see if we could find a different route in, we ended up seeing most of the village by ourselves, from a back entrance with a clearly marked "Do not enter" sign. As we did not know we were late, we could not figure out why the entire village was deserted. Eventually, we found the kitchen, and came through the back, where the staff working in the kitchen sent us to the auditorium where the entire maori team besides for the chefs were putting on a presentation about traditional Maori Culture. We found it just in time to catch the last five minutes. The manager was very nice about it afterwards, and sent us home with a note to get a refund from the person at the front desk who sold us the tickets. In the end, we managed to see most of the village in a self-guided tour, caught the tail end of the presentation, which included a Haka war-dance, and didn't have to pay. I'd call that a success.

Early the next morning we headed off to Hobbiton, the sheep farm used for the filming of the Shire in Lord of the Rings. Truly one of the most incredible beautiful sites I have ever seen. Also, we were again treated to New Zealand weather, which basically just means you can never know what to expect. There was a blue sky when the tour guide handed out umbrellas, and sure enough, every five minutes it poured for a few minutes, then suddenly there was not a cloud in the sky. Very inconsistent and prone to abrupt changes, as we learned to our dismay when we attempted to go skydiving.

After Hobbiton we drove to Waimangu, a volcanic region famous for its bubbling springs and great hiking trails. The springs were very interesting, They were hot, though not actually boiling. The bubbling came from chemical reactions taking place as the sulfur reached the surface of the water. The rocks surrounding the springs were, however, very hot. Too hot to touch at places. Of course, even though there was a blue sky when we began the hike, it became cloudy and then rained for all of 15 minutes before the blue sky returned. The hike was great, with some really nice views of the surrounding mountains and volcanic crystal clear lakes.

A late night drive brought us back to the airport and off to Sydney, where would spend the next four days. Having picked a location that google maps informed us was walking distance to all the major sites we wanted to see, we later learned that we had chosen one of the most sketchy parts of town from which to base our travels. It was fine during the day though, and the hostel was nice enough, so we made do. We checked out the Sydney Art Museum, the Museum of Australia, various parks, the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbor Bridge. We also walked to a zoo and aquarium, and I got my fill of Kangaroos and Wallabies. For shabbat, someone from Melbourne connected us with a very nice family in Bondi, where the Jewish community is located. The family introduced us to a very nice woman, named Lotte Weiss, who volunteers at the Sydney Jewish Museum, in the holocaust exhibit. What was so interesting about Lotte is that she is a holocaust survivor herself, having been among the first people sent to Auschwitz. She spoke with us for over an hour, telling us her story.
It was very moving walking through the exhibit with Lotte right there--a reminder that these aren't just stories we hear, but real events that took place just 65 years ago in a world not so different from our own, and to people just like us. Another exhibit in the museum described the Australian-Jewish History. One humorous display listed the crimes of many of the Jews sent to Australia when it was a penal colony of England. Some of the heinous crimes include horse theft, forging bank notes, pick-pocketing and worst of all -- stealing a large cheese, for which the person received life in Australia. Judicial systems were not always as forgiving as they are today.

After Sydney, we headed back to Melbourne for a few hours, and I continued on to Malaysia (this time only for a few hours) and then back to Hong Kong. I completed my last final nearly two weeks ago, and have been enjoying my last says in Hong Kong. I made two trips over to Shenzhen to have a suit custom made ($140 gets you a hand-made suit and two shirts delivered to my dorm room) and met up with a friend from Brandeis in Guangzhou. Though my chinese is getting better, it took me a few crucial minutes before I realized the taxicab driver started on his way to Guangzhou Rail Station instead of Guangzhou East Rail Station.
By the time I realized and corrected him, the last direct train back to Hong Kong had left, and I got to explore more remote parts of China in a late night adventure that took place by myself, with only a passport and my laptop, with no phone and limited cash.

Eventually I did make it home, and spent the next few days exploring the ins and outs of Hong Kong. I'm writing this on my way to Tokyo, where I will spend Shavuot and some time traveling throughout the country.
In the next eleven days, I will travel to Tokyo, Nikko, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe and more, at a rate of nearly a city a day. Should be fun.

Yoni

One day in Kuala Lumpur - Mosques, Malls, Buddhist Temples and Street Brawls

I just spent twenty six hours in Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia.

Before I arrived I was a little apprehensive about visiting Malaysia. In case you don't know, Malaysia counts itself among the nations of the world that choose to not recognize that Israel has existed for sixty one years now. This means that a full half of my extended family would be denied entry to the country with their Israeli passport. This means that if I took out the wrong passport, I would be denied entry to the country. Understandably, I wasn't sure I wanted to give this country any money.

In the end, I decided I was curious to see the society, and that it would be a good educational experience. Besides, its not like one night in a hotel will really make a dent in their economy.

I arrived early afternoon, and as in every other place I've been, the first thing I see in the airport is a McDonalds and a KFC. Here however, a big sign informed me that the meat in the restaurants was all Halal. Not quite Kosher, but at least there is no pork in the cheese burgers. There was also a Muslim prayer room, and a big compass pointing towards Mecca.

I took a bus into town, and then a subway ride brought me to the famous Petronas towers. When they were finished in 2004 they were considered by many to be the tallest buildings in the world. I found a place to stay near the towers, and once I was settled in I returned to the towers to explore the area a bit.

The bottom seven floors of the towers form a massive mall. Every luxury brand in the world seemed to be there, though the huge iPhone stand in the middle certainly dominated the scene. In the food court I was greeted with many familiar names; however, everything seemed just a little different. Famous Amos here was basically a souvenir shop that sold cookies as an afterthought. Auntie Anne's selection of specialty pretzels included Seaweed, Green Tea and other equally appealing options. When I made my way to the supermarket to see what I would find, I noticed a bid box of Matzohs lining a shelf. On the box, a notice from the Rabbinate of London explained that while kosher, these were not to be eaten on Passover. Now I know what happens to all the matzos that are accidentally allowed to leaven.

Later, on my way back to the Hotel I witnessed a very weird situation. Everything happened pretty quickly, so I'm not exactly sure what went down. I was slowly walking to my room when I heard someone yell behind me. I look back to see one guy, looked to be a local Malay teenager, attack another group of locals. The group responded in kind, and hit him back. Truth is, they may have started things, I didn't see. Suddenly, twenty people appeared behind the lone guy, and a genuine street brawl ensued. No one in the fight looked older than twenty. I notice to police officers walk right by and not do anything. Realizing that the last thing I needed was to end up hurt and alone in Malaysia, I made the decision that if the cops could ignore the fight, so could I. As I turned around to walk away, a group of Chinese tourists headed in that direction noticed the action as well, and decided it would be best to make a wide detour around the fight. Seeing that I was not Chinese, they somewhat condescendingly pointed to the brawl and said "no good." When I concurred in Chinese, they all giggled with excitement and we had a very nice chat.

I woke up early the next morning and visited the Guan Yin Sagely Monastery. The monastery is in the middle of the city, and with the communal kitchen and shared roles, it felt more like a kibbutz than anything else. The main difference is that in kubbitzim that I've been to, if there is a temple on the premises, it usually doesn't have large golden idols of buddhist gods in the middle of the room.

On the way to the airport, I noticed many large mosques adorning the city. The mosques are all very beautiful and quite larger than any I've seen. At the checkout counter I was informed that I would not be allowed on the plane, as they do not have me registered with a visa. One of my friends currently in Australia told me that I would not need a visa for short the trip. Not true. Luckily, Australia has an instant visa approval system online, and I just opened my laptop and applied for the visa. Twenty minutes later I was able to check in no problem.

I'm now on the plane nearing melbourne. The virtual map on screen shows the direction to two cities, Melbourne and Mecca. All in all, Kuala Lumpur was a fun and interesting city. Everyone was very friendly, and I think most of my apprehension was shown to be unfounded. Granted, they didn't know I am Israeli, but even if they had, I'm pretty sure most wouldn't have cared. Then again, I was only here for one night, and already I witnessed a full on street brawl. It was probably best that I didn't get involved.

Yoni

Chinese New Year Break -- Thailand for a week

I'm in the airport now, awaiting my flight to Bangkok from Phuket. This past week has flown by, but it definitely served its purpose. I feel refreshed, rested and ready for Hong Kong again. My first two days in Phuket I spent exploring. There were numerous local temples and markets, and gorgeous beaches everywhere. On Tuesday I began my scuba diving course. I am now a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver. The course consists of five dives over two days in various conditions, as well as class time. During the course I dove 30 m (~100 ft),

at night, navigating by my own compass. On Thursday we took a boat out to Koh Racha Yai, a small island off the coast of Phuket, and checked out the reefs there. The reefs in Phuket are some of the more beautiful diving sites in the world, and its reputation is certainly well deserved. I saw lion-fish, manta rays, clownfish, starfish and an octopus. I recognized at least four or five different fish from our old aquarium, and that yellow and black eel with the weird nose who kept getting bitten by the leopard sharks. Those of you who have seen it will know what I'm talking about.

 It was an incredible experience I won't soon forget. 

The course lasted until Thursday night, at which point I left my hotel in Karon Beach and moved to nearby Patong, where the Chabad House is located. 

I spent Shabbat with 200 Israeli backpackers, a few South Africans and a pair of Americans from Teane

ck, one of whom also graduated Frisch. Shabbat was a lot of fun, and it was good to speak Hebrew

 again. Also, just by chance, Eran, was in town as well, so we met and caught up. 

After Shabbat I went out with the South Africans and a couple of the Israelis.

The South Africans currently live in Sydney, and I now have a place to visit when I'm ready for Australia. Everyone keeps telling me better to go now than later, as their summer is almost over, but I don't think I can get off anymore school for a while. Ok...Last boarding call to Bangkok from Phuket...don't yet have a plan for when I get there, but I'm sure it'll be fine...

Just arrived in Hong Kong. Had an interesting night. I arrived in Bangkok at 9:30PM, but my flight for Hong Kong didn't leave until 8:30 the following morning. At the airport I hired a driver for four hours, and arranged for a hotel near the airport. All told, a personal driver for three hours and a hotel room cost me $58. Thailand is great.

Once I sent my stuff up to the hotel room, I told the driver, Chai was his name, to show me around Bangkok. At the hotel I checked the address for Chabad, just in case. The driver was nice enough, but as we headed into town, he said "I show you everything in Bangkok. You like lady? You like drink?"
After I explained to him that I was not interested in any lady or drink, given I had to be awake at 5 AM, not to mention all the more obvious reasons, I thought it might be nice to grab dinner at the kosher restaurant, as I hadn't eaten all day. "No problem," he said, 

"But first, I show you International Minigolf and Massage Parlor." I assumed I had misheard the last part, as I couldn't understand how the two would go together. But sure enough, we pulled up to a very nice hotel, and just past the entrance was a huge minigolf course and a selection of women standing around, with numerous 50 year old+ Westerners walking by one by one, pointing to one of the women a

nd heading upstairs with her. At this point I realized that I'm not somewhere I want to be, and told the driver I needed to meet "my friend" at the restaurant in ten minutes. We left, and he spent the next five minutes explaining to me how he comes by once in a while, and his girlfriend has no idea. That's nice, I thought. As we were leaving, I realized that the reason he brought me was that if I did bring someone upstairs, he would get a bonus. Needless to say, he didn't make a penny off me. 

Soon we were in another sketchy part of town, and I was convinced that the driver was taking me again to one of his hangouts. He parked, and we started to walk around, and as we passed one bar after another, I really became suspicious. But then, out of nowhere, was the large sign of "Beit Chabad."

The Chabad House in Bangkok was very nice, and even though it was nearly midnight, there were at least twenty people hanging out. As the guard, Kobi, welcomed me, he asked if I'd eaten dinner. I hadn't, but I knew the restaurant was already closed. Kobi brought me downstairs anyway, and found me some food in the kitchen. When I left the Chabad house twenty five minutes later, I found Chai outside, sipping a mineral water Kobi gave him at no charge when he realized that the man was my driver.  When he saw the treatment I received from "my friend" with such a large restaurant near all the bars, Chai assumed I must be involved in the Mafia, and began to treat me with more respect. I didn't bother to correct him. After that, he only took me to places I asked. We went to some of the larger temples in Bangkok, though they were all closed, so I could only see them from a distance. We went to the Royal Palace, adorned as the rest of Bangkok is with pictures of the king, and then to a night market. 

At the night market I saw baby elephants walking in the street.

We went to a place to a stadium to watch a Thai Boxing match, but it had just ended. That was fine, as looking at the time, I realized

the Super Bowl was about to begin. I watched for as long as I could, until it was time to head back to the hotel, to shower, rest for a bit and head to the airport. All in all, it was an interesting night. 

I'm back in Hong Kong now, and everything is great. I was driven to school today in a Bentley. One of the guys I met at Chabad last week apparently lives pretty close to me, and he passed by as I was waiting for the bus to go to class. For all Hong Kong is a big city, non-locals tend to congregate in a few specific parts of town, and I already find myself running in to people I know on a regular basis. 

-Yoni

PS I heard Shell is having a tough year, but this is ridiculous: 

If We Fail To Reach The Great Wall We Are No Heroes

Hey,

So I promised shorter, more frequent posts. I intend to keep that promise; just not yet. I'm going to put all of the touristy adventures through Beijing in a single post, as I've now been in Hong Kong for four days and am way behind schedule. 

The first morning with the group, we woke up at 7:30 AM, to beat the rush to Teinenman Square. This would be the latest we would wake up until we flew to Hong Kong, as the tour guide kindly thought everyone would want a late morning in to recover from jetlag. While I waited for everyone to show up late the bus driver began to instruct me in the national pastime known as Jianzi. 

Jianzi is like Hacky Sack, except the sack has feathers on one end and is easier to kick. I wasn't half bad.

We headed off to Tienenman Square and the Forbidden City. As we walked Tienenman Square, I listened to our tour guide discuss Chairman Mao. I'm somewhat fascinated by the Chinese adoration of Mao. Chairman Mao had millions of Chinese killed and numerous temples and other cultural relics destroyed during his Cultural Revolution, yet the Chinese I've met all speak of him with reverence. As my tour guide put it, "Sure he made some mistakes, but he is as a god to us. He is a father of China." 

Another point. Cameras and military personnel are everywhere here. They serve as a reminder that for all its recent capitalist development, China is still a One Party Country. Even the recent Olympic motto underscores this idea,"One World, One Dream." It can be unnerving at times.

As expected, it was beyond freezing outside, and three hours into the numbing pain in my fingers, I finally decided to buy a pair of gloves and fake furry 180s. It was only later that I remembered I had brought a pair of gloves with me from the beginning .

As we finished our tour of the square, and entered the Forbidden City, I learned a new fun fact about the dragon statues that are everywhere. Many of them aren't dragons, but in fact are lions. And they come in male and female versions. You can tell them apart by what is under their paw (or claw). Male lions and dragons will have a large ball under their right paw (not very subtle), while females will have a baby under their left paw. Pictured here is a male lion standing tall. 

The Forbidden City contains what is probably the World's coolest gutter system. see dragon heads below. It also has the most ostentatiously named structures imaginable. Between the Gate of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Central Harmony, the Hall of Mental Cultivation, The Hall of Supreme Principle and more, the Chinese make it clear you should never fail to be awed by one of their buildings.

If not for American Express generously donating of its limited time and effort to create each beautiful sign that adorns the Forbidden City, I'm not sure what the Chinese would have done. 

The Forbidden City also serves the community as an army base, where soldiers like to use the basketball courts to practice marching in step.

Next up, we headed to the Pearl Market for a bit. I felt like an old timer, helping my friends not get ripped off, and showing them the black market watch dealer. Michael - you have your Rolex. 

 The next morning we woke up at 6:30 to head off the the Great Wall of China. The wall is

usually packed with tourists, and it is impossible to get around. Today, however, it was below zero and the first day back at work after a long weekend for New Years, so we had the wall to ourselves. 

The section of the wall we chose to climb was a loop protecting a mountain pass leading to Beijing. It went up and around both sides of the valley, and climbers usually picked one side, and went to the top and back down the same path. Crazier climbers did the entire loop. Our plan was not to do the entire loop, but when I got to the top, I did not want to stop. I found three others who felt the same way, and we started in the other direction. 

One of the people I was climbing with deciding she wanted to count the numbers of steps down the mountain. She gave up around 1548. At this point, she headed down a different path towards the bus, and I took a short break. I could not believe I had climbed so far. I climbed thousands of steps to the top of one side, another 1548 steps down, and I was barely halfway there. Though it was below zero still, I had my jacket of, and shirt open. I then followed the path blazoned by John Stewart, and prayed at the Wall. The wrong wall, sure, but a wall nonetheless.

   

Ya, I climbed the wall as far back as you can see it. That's right. 

After we finished the wall, I treated myself to a really cool looking dragon fruit. A dragon fruit has the consistency of ice cream but with a sort of neutral taste.  

Another point which I love about China is the way even the most official signs never seem to be translated by someone who actually speaks English. I've seen signs on subway emergency exits giving me incorrect and nonsensical instructions. Signs at the Forbidden city asked me not to climb on the perilous hills, to no scratch the protected relics and reminded me that a single act of carelessness ruins an eternity of beauty. The Great Wall's signs were no exception. I was told that speaking cellphone is strictly prohibited during thunderstorm, and I'm not sure what I was told in the sign on the left.

When I finished climbing, I purchased a little plate that reads "If We Fail To Reach The Great Wall We Are No Heroes." I did not fail to reach the Great Wall.

After we left, we went to a more traditional part of town, where we were told people live as they did hundreds of years ago. Apparently, hundreds of years ago, people ate fried scorpions and sea horses, and got their haircuts in the streets. 

 Next, we went to the Olympic Village. The Bird's Nest was huge, and weird to see in person after so many hours staring at in on TV. It had some good signs as well. 

 To finish off an exhausting day, we went to a Kung Fu show which about half the group slept through. We were up the next morning at 5:30, for the plane to Hong Kong. I've been here for four days, and it has been incredible, though I've had numerous little issues such as not having a visa, no internet until Saturday night and not having registered for any courses though class begins on Monday. Still, I'm having a great time and meeting cool new people. I'll try to update soon. I still can't believe I'm in Hong Kong for the next five months. 

Yoni