The train journey & Hong Kong
18th
This morning i got up and went to uni to get my exam results. Managed to pass all of them which was good, but not great. We went to the train station and waited for our train to arrive. While we were waiting a man attempted to make conversation with me to practise his english, but he couldnt say very much so luckily it was a short conversation.
We got on the train and found our beds and managed to get our bags onto the racks. There wasnt much space in the train. In our little bit there were 6 beds and 2 little fold down seats by the windows, and I had managed to pick the beds with the least space which william was really pleased about, we couldnt even sit up properly, but william managed to get one of the seats which was good for him. We played cards for a bit and i read my book for a while but i got bored after about an hour and a half.
I went to sleep quite early because there was nothing to do and we were arriving at shenzhen at 6.30am so i would have to get up early.
19th
Didnt sleep well last night at all. The bed was so uncomfortable. And then man beneath me was snoring a lot, and there was a baby a bit further down the carriage that was crying a lot. We got off the train and went to find the ticket office to get tickets for Shenzhen to Guilin. However because everyone is buying tickets at the moment for spring festival, there were about 2000 people queuing for tickets. Even if we joined the queue it would be very unlikely that we would be able to get tickets. So I phoned ctrip and booked us some flights. We went through passport control and entered Hong Kong, it was very exciting. We got the metro to kowloon near to our hostel. The hostel was nice, and you got exactly what you paid for! The room was tiny, but it had everything you needed (apart from a window)
We went to get some food but ended up at McDo because it was the cheapest thing we could find - food was a lot lot more expensive in hong kong than in china. We had a walk around the harbour and then we went to the space museum and art gallery which were good. On the waterfront they had one of those hollywood star things where it has names of famous people on the floor and some of them had handprints. We only recognised three people tho, Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee and Jet Li.
In the evening we went to the markets - there was a flower market and a bird market. The bird market was disappointing because a lot of the cages were covered up and it smelt. We went to some of the other markets after that just sold general crap, I got a really cool t-shirt which says I love HK.
Then the most exciting thing happened - I found some ribena!! I've been looking for some for ages in Shanghai, i even emailed ribena to found out it they sold any in shanghai but they never replied.
We went to a really cool sushi restaurant for tea that had the food going round on a conveyor thing. William ate loads of wierd and random food, and I was really exciting and had smoked salmon.
20th
This mornng we got up early and went to one of the nice bakerys for breakfast, and then we went to see a little temple just up the road. We went to get the metro to Hong Kong island which was really nice. There were loads of huge buildings, and lots of hills and nice scenery too. We got the tram up to victoria peak and then went up to the sky terrace. From there you could see views all around Hong Kong, and it was a nice clear day too. We went and had a nice lunch on one of the terraces, and I got sunburnt which was very exciting. I dont think ive ever been sunburnt in January before.
We went for a walk around the peak and then got the tram back down. We had a walk around Hong Kong park which was cool and then just wandered around the island for a bit. In the evening we went to the harbour because they had a really cool light show and all of the majoy buildings had set up a coreographed light and sound display.
We went back to the hostel after this because we had been walking for miles and my feet were really hurting.
Monday 28 January 2008
Exams and William's arrival
10th January
I managed to go to both classes this morning altho it was an effort. In speaking class we played chinese whispers for a bit which was good, but we had the old japanese man in our group and he was really slow so we kept losing.
Did a bit of revision this afternoon, and then this evening beki came back which was tres exciting.
11th
This afternoon Mr Tu came round because we'd texted him about a problem with one of our lights. He came round and said he would get us some new lightbulbs and bring them round soon. But he came back later that day and brought a man with him to mend the light. It was very exciting, I love Mr Tu!! He's so nice. He was asking us if everything was ok with the apartment and said if we have any problems he will sort them out for us.
12th
This morning instead of revising, I spent hours trying to organise mine and william's travel plans. This afternoon I went to teach. It was the naughty class so i wasn't really looking forward to it, but I had Eva as my assistant so it was fine. All of the children are really scared of Eva because if they say anything or dont do what i tell them to she goes mad and shouts at them. I had to teach them fruits and then I had to sing a song for about 45minuntes called "what to you like". The children weren't impressed with my singing.
14th
This morning I had my writing exam which went so badly. I actually thought it would be alright cos id done a bit of revision, but it was sooo difficult and i didnt know anything. I couldnt concentrate on the exam because william was arriving this morning, and Justin had very kindly agreed to go and meet him, but i was worried that there would be a problem and william would end up lost in shanghai.
I finished the exam pretty quickly and went back to my apartment to see if william had arrived, but he hadnt, and id completely forgotten that id given justin my key so i was locked out. Great!!! But they arrived half an hour later so it wasnt too bad. I took william for a little tour around where i live and around uni which im sure he found very exciting. We werent out for too long though because i had to come back and do some revision.
This evening I had to go and teach the naughty class. I had to sing a song about a monkey and do monkey actions which was very embaresing, but it kept the children amused.
15th
This morning I had my reading exam which i thought went quite well. I came back and took william to get some dvds and some food so he could amuse himself while i was revising. This afternoon I had my speaking exam which went quite well too, there was only one little sentence that i didnt know.
This evening I went to teach (again) and I just had to do a review lesson which was easy. But while I was at work I missed seeing Mr Tu. He'd come round to collect our rent, but aparantly he stayed for ages. He said that he wanted to be our friend as well as our landlord!
16th
This morning I went to uni for my last exam - listening. When we arrived the koreans came rushing over and told us everything that was in the exam which was pretty helpful. After the exam i took william into the centre of town. We went to people's square and had lunch at a Japanese restaurant. Then we had a walk up Nanjing Road and went to the bund. We went and got something to eat in Raffles (one of the big shopping centres near people's square) and then went back. We all went out to a jazz bar where they had a ladies night. It was really good, they had some really good live music and FREE drinks!! We went to zapatas after for some more free drinks. Before we went home we decided to have some tacos at zapatas (theyre so cheap and very yummy), and afterwards we wre very naughty and stole the plates to take home because we didnt have any.
17th
This morning I got up and waited for my plane tikets to arrive. Afterwards, william and I went to the centre of town. We went to xintiandi first which is an area where they have restored some of the old buildings, and its been turned into an area with nice shops and restaurants. Its also where the communist party had their first ever meeting! We had a wander round there and we decided to go to one of the posh chinese restaurants for lunch. We only had wonton soup and fried rice with pork, but it was sooooo good. William said they were the best wontons he's ever had!!!!
Afterwards we went to the Yu Gardens and had a wander around the old streets. The gardens were really pretty, and afterwards we went to the tea house. I had some nice flower tea and william had some wierd tea that i hadnt heard of before, but it was nice. When we were walking around the old town we found a 2yuan shop (14p) so we bought loads of crap stuff because it was cheap.
William wanted to buy an erhu which is a traditional chinese musical instrument, so we went to musical instrument street (the street with all instrument shops) and he managed to get one for only £20 which he was very excited about. And i saw a pink guitar which im going to go back and buy one day. We went to the market (my fave place) and william got some trainers which i managed to haggle down quite well.
We got the metro to carrefour and tried to find somewhere near there for tea, but everywhere was so busy and i was very tired and hungry, and i had a bit of a tantrum so we ended up eating at KFC. We went to carrefour and got a few things to take on our train journey tomorrow and then went home.
I managed to go to both classes this morning altho it was an effort. In speaking class we played chinese whispers for a bit which was good, but we had the old japanese man in our group and he was really slow so we kept losing.
Did a bit of revision this afternoon, and then this evening beki came back which was tres exciting.
11th
This afternoon Mr Tu came round because we'd texted him about a problem with one of our lights. He came round and said he would get us some new lightbulbs and bring them round soon. But he came back later that day and brought a man with him to mend the light. It was very exciting, I love Mr Tu!! He's so nice. He was asking us if everything was ok with the apartment and said if we have any problems he will sort them out for us.
12th
This morning instead of revising, I spent hours trying to organise mine and william's travel plans. This afternoon I went to teach. It was the naughty class so i wasn't really looking forward to it, but I had Eva as my assistant so it was fine. All of the children are really scared of Eva because if they say anything or dont do what i tell them to she goes mad and shouts at them. I had to teach them fruits and then I had to sing a song for about 45minuntes called "what to you like". The children weren't impressed with my singing.
14th
This morning I had my writing exam which went so badly. I actually thought it would be alright cos id done a bit of revision, but it was sooo difficult and i didnt know anything. I couldnt concentrate on the exam because william was arriving this morning, and Justin had very kindly agreed to go and meet him, but i was worried that there would be a problem and william would end up lost in shanghai.
I finished the exam pretty quickly and went back to my apartment to see if william had arrived, but he hadnt, and id completely forgotten that id given justin my key so i was locked out. Great!!! But they arrived half an hour later so it wasnt too bad. I took william for a little tour around where i live and around uni which im sure he found very exciting. We werent out for too long though because i had to come back and do some revision.
This evening I had to go and teach the naughty class. I had to sing a song about a monkey and do monkey actions which was very embaresing, but it kept the children amused.
15th
This morning I had my reading exam which i thought went quite well. I came back and took william to get some dvds and some food so he could amuse himself while i was revising. This afternoon I had my speaking exam which went quite well too, there was only one little sentence that i didnt know.
This evening I went to teach (again) and I just had to do a review lesson which was easy. But while I was at work I missed seeing Mr Tu. He'd come round to collect our rent, but aparantly he stayed for ages. He said that he wanted to be our friend as well as our landlord!
16th
This morning I went to uni for my last exam - listening. When we arrived the koreans came rushing over and told us everything that was in the exam which was pretty helpful. After the exam i took william into the centre of town. We went to people's square and had lunch at a Japanese restaurant. Then we had a walk up Nanjing Road and went to the bund. We went and got something to eat in Raffles (one of the big shopping centres near people's square) and then went back. We all went out to a jazz bar where they had a ladies night. It was really good, they had some really good live music and FREE drinks!! We went to zapatas after for some more free drinks. Before we went home we decided to have some tacos at zapatas (theyre so cheap and very yummy), and afterwards we wre very naughty and stole the plates to take home because we didnt have any.
17th
This morning I got up and waited for my plane tikets to arrive. Afterwards, william and I went to the centre of town. We went to xintiandi first which is an area where they have restored some of the old buildings, and its been turned into an area with nice shops and restaurants. Its also where the communist party had their first ever meeting! We had a wander round there and we decided to go to one of the posh chinese restaurants for lunch. We only had wonton soup and fried rice with pork, but it was sooooo good. William said they were the best wontons he's ever had!!!!
Afterwards we went to the Yu Gardens and had a wander around the old streets. The gardens were really pretty, and afterwards we went to the tea house. I had some nice flower tea and william had some wierd tea that i hadnt heard of before, but it was nice. When we were walking around the old town we found a 2yuan shop (14p) so we bought loads of crap stuff because it was cheap.
William wanted to buy an erhu which is a traditional chinese musical instrument, so we went to musical instrument street (the street with all instrument shops) and he managed to get one for only £20 which he was very excited about. And i saw a pink guitar which im going to go back and buy one day. We went to the market (my fave place) and william got some trainers which i managed to haggle down quite well.
We got the metro to carrefour and tried to find somewhere near there for tea, but everywhere was so busy and i was very tired and hungry, and i had a bit of a tantrum so we ended up eating at KFC. We went to carrefour and got a few things to take on our train journey tomorrow and then went home.
Wednesday 9 January 2008
Back in Shanghai
Sorry for not writing anything on my blog for ages
I havent really been doing anything exciting since ive been back
My exams start next week so im supposed to be revising, altho i seem to be spending most of my time trying to organise my travels. So far I have booked a sleeper train to Hong Kong and a hostel there, but thats about it. The sleeper train should be an interesting experience!
The most exciting thing since Ive been back was my trip to Carrefour. I bought exciting things like english butter, english chedder cheese, heinz tomato ketchup, heinz baked beans, and other nice proper food!!!
I shall make more of an effort to keep my blog updated, but Im afraid I dont think it will be very interesting until I go on my travels after my exams are over!
I havent really been doing anything exciting since ive been back
My exams start next week so im supposed to be revising, altho i seem to be spending most of my time trying to organise my travels. So far I have booked a sleeper train to Hong Kong and a hostel there, but thats about it. The sleeper train should be an interesting experience!
The most exciting thing since Ive been back was my trip to Carrefour. I bought exciting things like english butter, english chedder cheese, heinz tomato ketchup, heinz baked beans, and other nice proper food!!!
I shall make more of an effort to keep my blog updated, but Im afraid I dont think it will be very interesting until I go on my travels after my exams are over!
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