Dalian and Shenyang.

Dalian was incredible. A majestic city by the seaside which sparkled with a castle in the sky. Sounds like a fairy tale, but I assure you it isn't!



Unlike the hustle and bustle of Beijing, Dalian was the scenic reprieve I was looking for. We stopped by the Russian district for some great shopping on the streets selling everything from tripods, tools, and furry Russian hats to toys, trinkets, and hand-carved handiwork. Amongst the rubbish, I found an old man manning a table full of beautifully painted Matryoshka dolls of various sizes. I couldn't resist the charm I found in him and the dolls so I bought one.











We were hungry for some seafood, so after visiting the square, we found a Macanese hot pot restaurant nearby. The fuwuyuan who served us there was a friendly girl in her early twenties who stood by our table to cook for us, which was pleasantly unexpected.











And I wasn't kidding about the castle in the sky! From within the restaurant, we could see a Disneyland-esque castle between the void space of two luxurious condominiums in the foreground. Upon closer inspection, which required us to walk up several flights of stairs, it really was Disneyland-esque in the sense that it wasn't real at all! This is a recent development by someone with a strange idea who wanted to showcase a collection of seashells in a museum, where the "stone walls" were actually plastered and painted on. Not that we were ever fooled into thinking that ancient China had such castles to begin with...











After coming down from the castle, we were waiting around a bus stop for a bus to take us to the beach, but instead, a middle-aged woman in a small van pulled up beside us and said something in Chinese. Fortunately for me, Kim understood her. The busses we were waiting for only ran during the summertime and so she offered to take us to the sights we wanted to go to for a fee. After negotiating a good price with her (we're accustomed to taking black cabs now), we hopped in and had one of the most jubilant driver ever! She was chatting away endlessly with Kim in the back making eye contact using the rear view mirror and though I hadn't the faintest idea of what she was talking about, I couldn't help but crack a smile and let out a few chuckles as she was just laughing her head off after every few sentences. Further down the road was a backup of cars going nowhere due to a large coach bus blocking both lanes. I got out from the vehicle to investigate the situation and found out that it was involved in a small accident with a Honda Civic as it was trying to negotiate a turn on a narrow bend. Though there were only minor scratches on the side of the coach, the rear bumper on the Honda was on the ground.



Jumping back into the van with Kim and our affable driver, I had the camera rolling when it was our turn to drive onto the sidewalk, drive around the coach, and get back onto the road again. We had a crowd of Chinese people coming out of the woodwork observing us as if we were about to perform a circus act. It was an odd experience, and I'm glad I captured it on film, er, SD card.



Shenyang was a disappointment. It was dark, grey, misty, and cold all day, and there wasn't anything much to see other than the abandoned imperial palace, similar to the Forbidden City in Beijing, but much, much smaller. We went to a well-known restaurant famous for its dumplings located right at the gates to the abandoned imperial palace and had one of the most delicious jiaozu ever. Not only did it look delicious sitting in those cute bamboo steamers, it also had the right texture and it was bursting with flavour.











China sure likes their things big. The Great Wall, The Forbidden City, Tian'anmen Square, and the soon to be the world's largest Ferris wheel in Chaoyang park when it's completed in 2009 comes to mind as prime examples of overcompensating. Where Shenyang was lacking, it surely made up for with the largest statue of Mao Ze Dong at the people's square. "SuperMao" as I have affectionately named it, was standing proud with his right hand extended (similar to Hitler's salute) with an army of troopers behind him carrying weapons and ammunitions. Making a mockery of it was just too easy.

Calligraphy in Dalian

Driving in Dalian

Kyle's Bon Voyage.

A big headache was lifted today when Dutchman flew out of Beijing. While Kim and I didn't see him off at the airport, we did see him off at the bus terminal in Wudaokou which took him to the airport. I knew as soon as the plane taxied off the runway when the migraine eased.

I whisked myself out to Dongzhimen to meet with a nice woman selling her iBook SE (Graphite, with FireWire!) for 600 RMB. I came back home with it for only 300 RMB and immediately formatted the noisy internal 10 GB HD and installed it with Panther. I named it Noah!

Southern China, Round 2.

At just shy of $400 CAD for a flight from Vancouver (YVR) to Hong Kong (HKG), flying the newly formed Oasis Hong Kong Airlines was a steal. Meeting up with Georg on September 29th at HKG was a little tricky as he was coming in from Shanghai via the train, but we managed to find each other eventually.

We seeked out ALPHONZE, a CouchSurfer on Lantau Island who was generous enough to offer his flat for us to crash at for a few nights. On the 38th floor of a luxurious condominium just outside of the Tung Chung MTR, his flat offered a expansive view of the island's mountainous landscape.

We were right in the middle of the autumn festival in China and the festivities were in full swing. I was happy to catch the laser light show this time around, even though it had fallen short of my expectations. Hanging out with FLURF and another CouchSurfer he was hosting at the time made my second Hong Kong experience a pleasant one. Our experience at the YHA Jockey Club brought my mood down to new lows when I had to pull my Samsonite suitcase up a spiralling driveway for nearly an hour in the cold and misty night. I was blowing steam out of my ears and nostrils and gave the people operating the hostel an earful about this horrid treatment for guests. I didn't want to stay here anymore, but I didn't want to look for another place either, so I had begrudgingly accepted to stay for one night and sleep off my anger.



Macau was next up on our itinerary, followed by a train ride to Yangshuo, and a bus ride into a smaller village called Xingping. This is where the picturesque karst mountainscape on the back of the 20 yuan bank note comes from. Took a wonderful bike trek through the gravel paths along the Li River and took note of the bamboo boats drifting along it. ADVENTUREATCHINA took us in to his home and gave us a bed to sleep on during our stay here. He operated a great cafe/restaurant called 'This Old Place' and often have CouchSurfers who plan to stay in Xingping for longer than a few days to work here as a server.

We moved further north to join NIALLMCIRIE, DINOVY, and other CouchSurfers in Guilin a few days later. After visiting the Elephant Trunk Hill and me having fun "walking on water" inside this inflatable ball, we got together for dinner in town. An excursion out to see a remake of the 'Arc d'Triumphe' and the 'Golden Gate Bridge'. We also had a look at the map of the world at a large square nearby to see that the brainer who etched the continents and city names put Vancouver where Victoria should be. Way to go!

Back in Beijing, BARRYFUN allowed me to surf his couch for twelve nights as my apartment in DWZ was still being subletted out to Robert, Kyle, and Hae Shim. During this time, I had consumed many bowls of pho at a local pho noodle restaurant, and dined at the Shin Kong Place food court. Here's to new traditions!

Hong Kong Laser Light Show

Hong Kong Transport

Walking on Water

CS Dinner in Guilin

Grouse Grind #3.

The sunlight streaming in through the windows woke me up and as soon as Eunice heard my sofa bed squeak as I sat up, she popped out of her room and said “Good morning” to me. After a cup of Ceylon tea while watching BBC World, we were off to Joe’s cafe on Davie to meet up with Leslie, Jay, and Jamie for breakfast before heading up for the Grouse Grind.

Despite my bad left knee from the bike trip i went on the day before, I had a goal to beat my old personal best (PB) of 59 minutes and attain a new PB of under 50 minutes. And the result? 56 minutes. I shaved off 3 minutes! The feeling of confidence in myself overwhelmed me from the moment I saw the peak in the distance and continues to linger in me as I write this entry. I’m so awesome! Just imagine what I could have come in at when I’m in optimal health...

Kathy arranged a quick party at her place for Rosa’s birthday anniversary party for this evening. Many of us who were with us yesterday were back together again today, with new faces from our fractured CORE social group.

I got wind of the changing dynamics and politics in CORE Vancouver when Jamie, Fiona, and Lana picked me up from the airport. I heard an earful more after spending the night over at J&J’s and was saddened by what I’ve heard. “The Boh Lo Yao Bike Trip” yesterday was the first time I heard stories from the other side of the turn of events over the course of the summer when I was still in Beijing. It turned for the worse when members got banned from accessing the CORE Vancouver website (and effectively from the group itself) without so much of a warning or an explanation as to why. For this reason, a social group called “The Black Sheep” was born on the FaceBook community. I find myself caught in the middle: friends from both camps who can’t seem to reconcile differences or establish a clear line of communication.

I could only hope that the problems that exist now will be solved and unity be established before long. “United we stand, divided we fall”.

Bo Loh Yao Bike Trip.

Took the bus into Vancouver this morning for a CORE event with Kathy, Norm, Leslie, Jay, Jamie, Eunice and Kettina. We met up at Kathy’s place and left all together at around 1100, heading southbound on Heather, south on Granville, and over the Arthur Laing Bridge to Iona Island for a scenic view of the Straight of Georgia and the planes landing and taking off at the Vancouver International Airport. It was a thrilling bike ride on a clear and sunny day, and of all the years I’ve spent in my hometown, this was my first cherry-popping experience.

We made a stop at a Hong Kong restaurant called Lido where I had tried something called “Boh Lo Yao” which was essentially a pineapple bun with a slice of butter in the middle. Apparently, this was the place to get it, and so I consumed it with glee while the others watched in amazement. After eating a handful of egg custards as a chaser, we were off again, this time to burn off our filled stomachs by walking it off around Aberdeen Centre.

My left knee started to bother me as I made my way back to Kathy’s but I shook it off as best I could and made it back with everyone else. Because I agreed to do the Grouse Grind the morning after, Eunice offered to put me up at her place on a sofa-bed, where I slept comfortably as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Picnic on Granville Island.

Jennifer and I arranged to meet up on Granville Island for a picnic with other CSers, but as it often happens with us, we couldn’t find the others when we arrived, so we were left to our own devices.

We took advantage of the gorgeous sunshine and found a nice picnic bench to unpack our basket of goodies. Okay, so it wasn’t a basket per say, but a shopping bag as we had bought our fresh food from the farmers’ market on the island, but work with me here! Jen brought with her some sliced baguettes, ham, and an apple. I brought the maple cheddar cheese, German meat loaf, Okanagan red prosciutto, raspberry almond Copenhagen, and a bottle of Maple Cream Ale and Honey Lager from Granville Island’s very own brewery.

Good food with a best friend to share a laugh with on a beautiful day... it doesn’t get any better than this.

We moved on to the Waterfall Building designed by Vancouver’s very own architect, Arthur Erickson, and browsed around the art gallery there. Our trek on our two legs moved us further west along West Fourth to Videomatica where Jen had found a rare movie she was looking for. With a cold bottle of green tea in hand, we drifted along to Vanier Park and found a nice grassy hilltop overlooking English Bay to park our bottoms and rest our legs.

I had a movie called “2 Days in Paris” to catch at Festival Cinemas, and she was meeting up with a CSer named Dave, so we split ways in the evening, but found ourselves back together again by coincidence, catching the same bus home.

It was perfect.

Vancouver Bike Tour.

Aaron invited me out to a bike ride in North Vancouver with a meetup group this morning. We packed our bikes in his mom’s Rav4 and met up with other members there in Lynn Valley. After calling out to one member that we were going to grab a quick bite, we went to Subway sandwiches where I bought a footlong. After re-surfacing, we quickly realised that they had taken off without us. How rude.

We managed to do just fine without them and after a stroll around some forested dirt trails, we moved on over to the West End, mounted on our bikes once again, and did the Stanley Park Seawall, down along Beach Avenue, stopped for lunch and Gelato to finish, and continued westbound following the crest of English bay to False Creek and Yaletown.

Met up with Jamie after our run to pick up my suitcase they’ve been keeping for me since my arrival, before heading back on our journey home.

Vancouver Bike Tour #1

Vancouver Bike Tour #2

Vancouver Bike Tour #3

The Grouse Grind #2.

Andre and his kids, Jay, Sigrid, and myself and other members of the G54 club went up to do the Grouse Grind this morning. I had an objective for myself to beat my previous Personal Best (PB) of 75 minutes and come in at under 60 minutes, and I did it (but just barely!) 59 minutes is my all time best. Not bad for my second time!

Sigrid did her best on her first go. Though she had suffered through two asthmatic attacks along the way and nearly died when she surfaced to the top at just under three hours, she completed the hike, and for that, we were all proud of her. Suffice it to say, she will not be doing the grind any time soon, however.

Jay, Sigrid, and I met up with Alex (Frenchie) at Soma’s and treated ourselves to some rare and imported ham, cheese, and wine. With a knife and fork in hand, I began to consume my thinly sliced wild boar, Shinkenspeck, and Finocchiona and savored every moment of it for as long as it still remained as a solid in my mouth. This indulgence of ours wasn’t cheap, as one could imagine, but you can’t put a price on enjoying it with good friends, good conversations, in our quiet little corner of the cafe.

As if that wasn’t enough of a perfect ending to a day, we got together with Jamie and Leslie at the Cheesecake restaurant on Granville.

Vancouver CouchSurfing Party!

Jen and I were the first arrivals to Rebecca's house just off Commercial Drive. Someone posted that the party should begin in the late afternoon so, armed with raw steak from Safeway and a bottle of South African wine from BCL, we were ready for a splendid time.

We got acquainted with Rebecca during the hours that we were waiting for the rest of the guests to arrive. In fact, despite the "late afternoon" posting, people didn't start pouring in until closer to six! During the period we were waiting for the party to actually start, Jen and I decided to make use of the warm afternoon sun and take a stroll around Commercial Drive's quaint neighbourhood, looking for nothing in particular. Our long walk lead us to one of Vancouver's infamous Gelato parlour, La Casa Gelato, with over two hundred different flavours. It was then that we had witnessed, firsthand, an ice-cream thief! This guy was decked out in bike gear, spandex, water bottle, helmet, and all, and went around sampling all sorts of flavours and being very demanding. He finally settled for a waffle cone and a double scoop of some flavour, and like a cartoonish kind of way, he dashed out of the store with Roadrunner legs (minus the dust cloud) and took off with his bike without paying. Priceless. The double-scoop gelato on a waffle cone however, was $5 CAD.

The party was looking more like a party when Jen and I returned to Rebecca's after our jaunt around the drive. Socialising, mingling, drinking, and eating, was the order of the evening, followed by some improvisational dancing to tunes off Rebecca's iTunes jukebox. Meeting some of CS Vancouver's faces for the first time was really nice. Someone even brought in a cake which had "Got Couch? Summer 2007" written on it with blue icing! Most of it, however, wasn't consumed, but rather, used as face-paint and other forms of creative expression which got a little messy and out of hand. Blame it on the alcohol.

The party continued into the wee hours of the morning and a couple musicians among us were plucking away at the strings outside, much to one neighbour's displeasure. I hit the make-shift bed on Rebecca's floor at the crack of dawn.