China - on teh internetz

China has a really fascinating online world. It doesn't just stop at the "great chinese firewall" which blocks a lot of sites (annoyingly) which ends up slowing everything down a whole lot, especially for foreign sites. That's the negative. The positive is that with such a huge amount of people online and so often (they've got a bit of an internet addiction problem here, particularly amongst young people) it spawns a lot of websites. And because there are a lot of expats here, and it can get really lonely and isolating, I think it drives a lot of foreigners to start blogs (like me!) about their lives here.

I guess perhaps it's more apparent here in Shanghai with its huge concentration of expats from all over the world. I love that Shanghai is such an international city in a way (although sometimes I'd definitely say it's what I've come to call 看起来 foreign - i.e. "foreign" or rather kind of Western and yet still with a whole Chinese flavour to it), which is something I also really liked about Sydney (I once wrote a long blog post about it - not this blog though).

Just thought I'd share my enthusiasm!

A very German Christmas (market)

It has suddenly become FREEZING the past couple of days. And out of nowhere. I guess it has been on and off cold the past month of November, but yesterday the temperature just dropped by a gazillion degrees!



And of course I not only had to get up for class that morning (so hard getting up into the frosty frosty air) but had also made plans to go with a bunch of people to a German Christmas market at night! It was fun, but FREEZING! At one point I was standing there and my feet felt like they were about to drop off.

The market itself wasn't so special. It was just like any other market, but like with everything foreign in china, a bit overpriced in my opinion. Then again, special event markets are always a bit overpriced so I guess I just haven't been to one for awhile so had forgotten. Looked around, there were a few stalls selling things I don't need (Christmas decorations, random Chinese items), and some food stalls where we grabbed some dinner. I tried a vegetable soup with spratzle, which is apparently some kind of noodle. It's from the region that one of the Germans is from, but he assured me that it's not meant to be the way I had it. It's apparently usually just dry noodles covered in cheese and maybe some sausage. Oh those Germans, they love that sausage!

We eventually made our way inside (it was held at the Paulaner brewery/restaurant) for some warmth and beer (of course)! A friend treated the rest of us to some pretzels with some various typically German spreads (I think). Too meaty for me (one was lard with pork bits, and one was just like a pate type thing?) but I did enjoy having some butter. Yum! Haven't had any for ages because I am too lazy to go buy some, and my grandparents don't use it. I also had a big wheat beer, which is really quite nice tasting. Also from the south.














Apparently the freezing temperatures made it "truly authentic" so I guess I should feel lucky? As the temperature drops I think longingly of beaches and Australian summer and it makes me miss home just a little more. Home in two months! I'll miss it, but summer! Warmth! No more woollies, pretty pretty dresses!

Christmas cake

An amusing little tidbit that I'd forgotten until yesterday was that the Japanese call a woman who is "on the shelf" (ie an old maid) a "Christmas cake". I found a good explanation online: "It may well be sweet and delicious, but no one really wants any after the 25th. So, if you're an unmarried Japanese woman, after the age of twenty five, you're in extreme danger of becoming a Christmas Cake." (from here)



Funny how the Japanese can make a relatively negative (even if you, like me, don't believe it's a negative thing to be an unmarried woman in your late 20s and upwards, it's MEANT in a negative sense I guess) term sound kawaii! We get old maid, they get Christmas cake!



In other news, cold winds have hit Shanghai and it is FREEZING! Bone chillingly so!

places to eat in Shanghai

I need a place to keep track of these places I want to eat at, so why not use this blog? Not very interesting for anyone else to read (sorry).

Hello sushi?
http://www.smartshanghai.com/blog/1107/Yogafish.html

Mmm... French cafe!
http://www.smartshanghai.com/venue/3133/Cafe_Montmartre_(Wulumuqi_Lu)_shanghai

Mexican! Won't be as good as the real thing, but... Australia is no better!
http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/shanghai/listings/dining/mexican/has/MAYA/

A cute little cafe:
http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/shanghai/listings/dining/cafes/has/bohemia-cafe-and-bar/?most_viewed=1

Chocolate cake:

http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/shanghai/listings/dining/dessert/has/awfully-chocolate/?most_viewed=1

Chinese banana girl

I found this really good Chinese learning website, and I was listening to some of the podcasts. There was a particularly interesting one on overseas Chinese which mentioned a term I'd never heard before but think is amazing: "egg". Hah, that made me laugh. I guess that's white on the outside, yellow on the inside? As opposed to banana, which is me, mostly. Although I guess I'd describe myself as a Chinese banana - yellow on the outside, white on the inside, but with a Chinese flavour (and of course made in China). I think that pretty much sums it up.

The whole topic of overseas Chinese is a really interesting one, and I couldn't even begin to discuss it. At least not in a blog. I think it's much more organic and would flow more freely in a conversation. My 口语 kouyu (spoken Chinese) teacher said to my class mate and me that she finds it difficult to think of ways to keep the class interested in the lessons. In my head I thought "well that's obvious", but externally I said "well that's to be expected. The levels of spoken Chinese in this class are too low for decent conversations on most topics, and yet we're all old enough that we don't want to be discussing the baby topics that we could converse on using what we've learnt" (that's not really an exact translation of what I said, but you know, it's what I was trying to say, with a bit of me adding a bit of extra ME into the words that I find more difficult/impossible when I'm speaking Chinese).

I think I may have complained on this blog before about my classes here in Shanghai, but for me I believe the biggest problem is that I'm in this extremely odd space where my spoken, listening and reading/writing skills are ALL different. Listening is the best for me, and spoken is a little way behind (I'm paying for all the time I spent responding to my parents in English when they spoke to me in Chinese), and reading/writing further behind that. I didn't get my act together and fix that when I could so now it's pretty much what I've gotten myself lumped with.

I know from speaking to other students that they also find the classes similarly unstimulating. It is very repetitive learning a language, so I understand that it's not going to be a barrel of laughs. But, like learning anything, a lot hinges on your teachers. If they can get you excited about what you're learning, however dull the grammar structure is that you're learning, then I think you've got a good 'un on your hands. My reading teacher is like that. She teaches us some of the most boring stuff, and yet somehow makes it interesting. Just a natural talent for teaching I guess. Combined with an interest in helping students learn.

I think if she taught all my classes, and if I was in the right level for everything, I could really learn a lot here. As it is, I've surprised myself with how far I've come. I guess I didn't think that I was learning a lot, but in a way, I've gained a lot of knowledge that is now in my brain swimming around somewhere. Chinese isn't like a lot of other languages, because it has so many different words, so you just have to memorise things. There's no way out of it.

I think I'll start listening to more of the podcasts (there are a lot) and supplement my class learning.

http://www.chinesepod.com

How does time pass by so quickly?

It just zooms past. Zoom zoom zoom. I feel like my time in Shanghai will be gone before I've even realised that I'm actually here, if that makes any sense at all. I do feel like I'm getting more of a handle on the city. It's getting colder, but I think I need to go and explore the city some more. I did a little bit today as I was meeting a friend and his girlfriend in a heretofore unexplored area of town. It looked not too far away on the map so I figured I'd just walk. I ended up being 30 minutes late (it took me about 45 minutes to walk there, but partly because I kept having to check my not so trusty Lonely Planet map) but it was ok because they were even later (also underestimated how hard to far away it was!). I am excited because I found a whole street full of restaurants, so I need to go back again sometime. The area is also known as Shanghai's "Koreatown" and although I didn't see any Korean places, there are meant to be a lot somewhere around there. Mmm... Korean! Something I rarely eat in Australia because it sucks in Canberra and I never seem to get around to it in Sydney!

It takes me awhile to get used to a city. I'm also not the type of person that likes to run out and explore willy-nilly before I'm acquainted with things a bit better. And I've never liked going for walks without purpose (I used to take walks to the local shops so that I'd have somewhere to end up at!) so I'll have to figure out some walking purposes...

Weekends go by so quickly, and weekdays crawl but the week speeds up and suddenly it's the weekend again. I think working full time will feel like this too. Except of course I'll have less free time to watch DVDs. Gotta make the most of my free time now. Pity I have to study. :o(

A little bit on Shanghainese foods (aka more crab!)

I'm reading on Wikipedia about Shanghainese foods so I figured maybe I'd just write some of my faves down. Partly just for me to have a list (there's so many things I eat that are quite tasty) and partly because it might benefit someone else! :o) In no particularly order:

1. Dazha xie - translation = hairy crab. I had a banquet with these last night at my aunt and uncle's place. If you're a crab fan, they are a must have. The season is October - January I think, with the best ones being around about now! There's also a male and female season, but I never really know which goes when. Look away if you don't want to know more (it is just a little bit gross):
The way of eating these hairy crabs is actually quite interesting, I had to be "taught" how to eat it. You pull off the top shell exposing the eggs underneath (both male and female have this, I'm not QUITE sure why) and then pull of the bottom under the stomach shell so that you can break the back in half and get to the middle bit. You pull off these little grey tentacley things on the back of the crab (no idea what it is, but you can't eat it. might be lungs?) and then I like to yank the legs off to save for later. The "best part" is the eggs (and if it's a male, and please bear with me as it's kind of gross - the sperm or "gao" which I used to think was a kind of glue... now I know better and... it definitely makes me a bit less of a fan of it...) and you dip that in the sauce (black vinegar and chopped up ginger) and delicious! You also can suck what I think might be the brain of the crab (not sure and don't want to ask) from the top shell. Surprisingly tasty? And then the annoying party of pulling out every last bit of meat from the rest of the crab. The main body part has the best meat, so sometimes I don't really bother with the little legs, just the big clippers.

People have different methods of eating the skinny little legs. My cousin just chomped his way through and spat out the shell. I crunch the shell and then peel it off slowly. And my uncle was proud of his chopstick poking out the meat method. I'd do that but I feel that if I poke around with my chopstick I'll probably hit someone in the eye.

2. Pidan shourou zhou - translation = century egg and lean pork congee. I had this last night with my hairy crab and it was a perfect accompaniment. Century egg are these preserved and they're a kind of browny on the outside and greeny on the inside. They actually look like really moldy eggs (and for the uninitiated might taste a bit like that too to be honest) but they really give the congee a great taste. It's usually a little gingery, but the pork adds a nice flavour, and congee is always deliciously slippery, comforting and just glides down your throat easily.

3. Xiaolong bao - translation = those delicious little thin skinned dumplings filled with pork and sometimes topped with crab roe. I thought the translation was little dragon dumpling, but I read on wiki that it's something else? Confused. Anyway, most people have heard of these I think, but they're the little dumplings that Shanghai is famous for and you bite into them (just a little of the skin off the top), blow on the insides to cool it down, suck out the soup and then gobble down the rest. I find them perfect when they've been sitting on the table a few minutes and have had the chance to cool down.

4. Shengjian mantou - translation = fried pork buns. Similar to the xiaolong bao but with thicker skin (a little bigger too I'd say) and fried instead of steamed. You usually see them in those big wok things with a steamer bamboo lid on top. They're sprinkled with shallots and sesame seeds and they're just FAB. I think it's best to eat them in a similar manner to the xiaolong bao, but note that the skin is a bit thicker.

5. Chou doufu - stinky tofu. Not exactly a fave of mine, but I thought I'd mention it just because of the name! It actually DOES smell pretty bad, so you can always smell it before you see it. It's kind of just fried tofu with a slightly odd taste. I can't quite place it, but it's almost like it's off but then it's not really? A little bland for some people's tastes and a little weird for the not so adventurous. It's also a street snack so who knows about cleanliness? It's possible this might have been what gave me food poisoning for a few days...

That's just the beginning of my food thoughts. Might try and post more when I think of it, but here are some food photos in the meantime. Not of any of the above things (couldn't find any pics, will need to do that!) but still stuff I've eaten in Shanghai.

You learn a little, you teach a little

The best part of studying in an international environment (like a language school where people from all over come to learn Chinese) is meeting other people from all over the world. You learn that some things are the same everywhere, but it's all the little differences that are the most intriguing. I also love all the self-realisation/analysis that can occur as you try and explain why something is a certain way or why you do or say a certain thing. That's all a bit abstract, but if you've spoken to other people from another country I'm sure you know what I mean.

Tonight I taught my Japanese friend the meaning of finger quotation marks and I learnt that in Japan that kind of action is the action for a crab. That made me laugh. It's a small thing, but it's little stuff like that - all those moments that make you laugh or cry - they make it all worth it.

I'm exhausted and have a lot of Chinese exercises to do tonight before I go to sleep, but thinking about that makes me smile and gives me just a bit more energy to get through it.

Post-exam celebrations

Post-exams a few of my classmates and I went out and celebrated Japanese style by going to an "all you can eat and drink" Japanese restaurant. All for the low, low price of 150yuan! That's like $35AUD? Expensive by Chinese standards, but great value for money because we ordered and drank up a storm.

Vegetarians, look away now! I even thanked the little raw fishies that gave up their lives to be able to have the privilege of swimming around in my stomach. Yum! oh raw salmon, how i love thee. I tried some beef carpaccio (raw beef - or at least beef that had only been seared for all of 1 second in the pan) which was ok, but not the greatest thing I've ever eaten.

Also - can I just say that Japanese people are crazy drinkers? Koreans too! Or at least the ones in my class are. Lots of urging people to scull down alcohol in large quantities and then subsequent cheering and clapping and stomping on the floor. Lachlan, if you're reading this, you would be proud of me, the old Trin who used to be able to drink large quantities of alcohol and still stand up, has somewhat resurfaced. After a LOT of sake shots, asahi beer, some shochu (and later on two vodka/oranges) I was not only still standing but not even vaguely drunk. I got a bit of the Asian red flush earlier on, but it went away once someone let some cool air into the restaurant. Although I don't know how they doctor the alcohol here so maybe I just wasn't get that much alcohol in the system.

However, like I said the Japanese and Koreans all got a bit crazy. One guy (who reminds me of a manga character) was smiling extra hard. Hilarious as he has a deep, dimpley smile and so a constant smile made him look a little bit psychotic, in a happy way of course. Not in an "I think I want to shove a knife deep into your guts and twist it hard" but in an "I've inhaled large quantities of laughing gas" or an "I've had an extreme face lift and know my face is stuck like this forever" kind of way. And another guy, after hitting on a girl for about 20 minutes (I had a bet with this other guy going that they'd hook up within 20 minutes- which I lost) suddenly leapt up for the bathroom to collapse. It's always so flattering when that happens, for me it feels a bit like "oh so you were only talking to me because in your drunken state you probably saw two or three of me and thought this might be a chance for a threesome/foursome? RIGHT then..."

Afterwards a few of us joined some other non-classmates at a club (although first I tramped for 30 minutes in the rain and got my boots all wet). Shanghai clubs continue to be lame and to not interest me that much. I should just give up on it, it's kind of expensive going out here! I should just accept I'm a bit of a granny (although living with my actual granny I've realised I'm not 100% granny yet as I still like to walk relatively fast and I don't complain nearly as much) and stay home. Like I am tonight. Saturday night and I'm sitting at home writing this post and about to watch Project Catwalk (British Project Runway) season 3. That's actually my idea of a pretty good night! The only thing that could make it better would be someone to make snarky/bitchy comments about the lame outfits with me. And no grandma barging into my room at midnight asking why I'm not asleep yet!

You know winter is around the corner when...

I've been making myself multiple cups of hot tea for the past couple of days. The pluses of living with my grandparents is that, being Chinese, they drink tea all day (instead of water) so I've got a ready supply of hot water already boiled and in big urns keeping it hot! No having to wait for the kettle to boil. I do miss some of my teas from home, hadn't realised that mostly they just sell more traditional Chinese teas here. None of your stupidly sweet flavours (but delicious!) like Apple Pie from the Tea Centre or even the nice clean taste of Irish breakfast (with milk). That said, I had a really tasty wheat based tea at a restaurant yesterday which I'm going to try and find.

I do find myself missing coffee though. It's all Nescafe and Starbucks here. Nescafe is all right for all night study sessions where you need to keep yourself pepped up, mixed with a bit of milo, but no milo! And Starbucks is just average coffee at hugely inflated prices. Not that Aussie coffee is right up there with Italian coffee or anything, but at least I can go out for a coffee and get something drinkable. Also I'm a little cautious about milk products, although that hasn't necessarily stopped me when I really want to have something milky (like ice cream... mmmm...) It's selective memory.

I've gone from American Project Runway to Australian Project Runway. American is definitely better, but the Australian version is not as bad as I thought it'd be. I can't imagine it'd be watchable to non-Aussies (due in part to too much slang - seriously, I think Aussies use more slang than ANY OTHER CULTURE!) but it's ok for me.

Another weekend being spent doing not much. Better than going out and getting food poisoning though...

Food poisoning

Have been out of action the past couple of days as I succumbed to a bout of food poisoning, now mostly over (phew!). At least now, having had it once, I hope I don't get it again! And I'm also glad that this was the extent of it. Last time I had it, it was much, much worse.

This reminds me I need to be more careful with street food.

Chinese levels

People have all varying levels of Chinese in my class. Lots of Japanese and Koreans who can write (not sure why Koreans can write, but a lot of them can... i guess they have a pictorial script too... ) but not really understand or speak and who are all mostly very studious. Two Germans with different levels, his is probably better cos he has a Chinese gf, but then maybe not cos all he's learning seems to be sex type words from her. And then there are two Malay-Chinese girls, one who is actually Malaysian and one Aussie. The Aussie has a really good accent but I don't think she knows that much Chinese (just good at pronunciation) and the other sounds kind of Cantonese when she's speaking (she speaks Fujianhua I think?) but can understand a lot, and can't really read or write. And there's me. I can read a lot more than before, and writing I've learnt some just from weekly mini tests on characters I've been studying for. And my listening is good for this level (definitely way above it), but not as good as the Malaysian girls, being used to Shanghainese makes Mandarin tricky sometimes. My speaking is sometimes ok and sometimes way off when I'm having a good or bad day. Some days my tones are so mixed up that I even confuse myself. Speaking to my grandparents every day doesn't help either. They're so deaf and I have to yell loudly to get my point across, it's easier to stick to Shanghainese which I can sustain at a loud level. Mandarin just goes haywire!

Same same but different

There's a comforting sense of familiarity and stability here in my Shanghai life due in main part to the samesame-ness of family relationships and lifestyles. It's like going back to Canberra after a long absence, although things may have changed, the overall vibe is largely the same. So here I am, it's been about 5 years or so since I last visited and it doesn't feel that different. My grandparents have moved somewhere new, but the furniture is the same and their daily routine remains "get up early, buy vegetables/groceries, prepare and eat lunch, play mah jong all afternoon, prepare and eat dinner, settle down in front of the TV all night and then go to bed early". And that's the same pretty much every single day...

The stability of their daily lives, plus the structured nature of my classes, means that my life is very same same each day. I suppose a little different in that the classes are different, some days I eat with classmates some days I eat at home. But overall the same thing.

I kind of crave novelty a lot so it becomes a little bit dull after awhile. I should appreciate being here more, but staying in one place always seems to mean you lose a bit of excitement in your life. Itchy feet!

Settling in - life in Shanghai

No posts for a bit as I lost my initial excitement about having proper access to internet to a certain extent. Am still using it a lot, but more for watching TV (oh how I love thee Project Runway) than for anything else. I'm sitting here drinking tea and eating a cookie and loading an episode of Project Runway, season 5. Not as good as season 4, not even close, as the designers on this season seem to lack... talent. That's a bit harsh coming from someone who struggles to sew in a straight line (I can do buttons though!) but it's true. Where did they find these people? No Christians, Ramis, Jillians or Victoryas in THIS round up. They were going for "diversity" of designers - in terms of style and race it seems - but they ended up with a lot of people who don't have great taste and some who don't seem that good at even basic garment construction! Wonky seams, badly sewn etc.

An overview of my daily life in Shanghai:
- Wake up early, having been awoken by the noisy tones of my grandparents making desultory morning conversation, but in very loud voices as they're both a bit deaf. Sweet sounds of birds chirping it is not. Birds chirping is also way overrated, I'd rather have silence. Oh sweet silence. My grandparents are very noisy people. When they talk, it's loud, almost yelling. When they watch TV, the sound is way up. And every afternoon they play mah jong and then there are 5 old people sitting there being deaf and loud and when they "wash" the tiles (kind of like when you shuffle cards) it's a cacaphony of loud exclamations (of "oh my cards were so terrible" or "oh i was just waiting on this one") and the tiles clanking against each other repeatedly.

- Eat breakfast (usually rice porridge and some small items like pickles, tofu and preserved vegetables) and then walk to class. Except for Wednesdays when I have afternoon class, yes! Sleep in! Although my noisy grandparents wake me up early, they go out to buy the daily groceries which gives me about an hour of blissfully silent sleep.

- Class lasts for a bit over 3 hours, in blocks of 1.5 hours each and a 20 minute break in between. I've started to make some friends in my class and through them met a couple of others which is nice. I went out to a couple of bars (not very good ones I must admit) and ended up slightly hungover on Wednesday afternoon. I think the cocktails here must have some extra poison in them, I only had one cocktail and one beer and should NOT have been feeling that bad the next day.
We have three types of classes: kouyu (speaking), tingli (listening) and the intensive reading course (can't remember the name in Chinese!). My reading course by far is the best as the teacher is very good at her job. She keeps you involved, and even if it is not exactly interesting perse (I mean it's just reading new words, reading passages about unexciting topics like fixing bicycles and being sick etc, and learning grammar structures) but I certainly feel like I want to learn with her. Listening teacher is also not too bad, but we move too slowly I feel. That's partly because I should be in a higher class but you're meant to do everything all on the same level and I'm too lazy to argue about it. Sometimes it's just easier following the rules here. Speaking is stupid, as we don't spend much time speaking, just reading the passages after the teacher. She's a really nice lady, but not much of a teacher so far. Looks like she might be improving, but time will tell.

- Lunch: I was eating this with my grandparents but now have eaten with classmates a couple of times. Both times Japanese! Curry and then ramen. I really want sushi though. Haven't yet scoped out the best places to eat. The area that my university is in is not as cheap as it's fairly central, but my grandparents said there are some good places around. Chinese is the cheapest of course, should eat more of that!

- Then the rest of the day I spend studying and watching TV online (yes, at the same time - although you need to study a fair amount, it doesn't need THAT much brain power).

Overall not hugely exciting, and I've never really been a fan of stability/routine, but that's what it's like here. My grandparents are very big on routine (they're old) so my life gets a little structured around them, and also around classes. They've got a bit of a salsa scene here which I am hoping to look into (found some links to it via Facebook - oh the beauty of FB!) and that should give me a bit of excitement in my life!

Shanghai shopping

Xixi mentioned that she thought shopping in China might have increased in price since she last came, and perhaps this is true in the department stores, but you can still get great deals in market type places. I went to the Hongqiao International Pearl City, driving there through insane traffic with my mum's friend and her daughter. Her daughter currently lives in Ottawa, Canada, but is here on vacation for about a month. It's nice having someone to do something with outside of just study and family and it was nice to finally do some shopping (and not in Qingdao...).

Le Sportsac is really big in China right now, which makes sense because it's brand-y enough to appeal to Chinese sensibilities, whilst also being cutesy enough to really really catch on! I invested in two little bags, and luckily my mum's friend was a really good bargainer. I wouldn't have been game to bargain as hard as she did, but then given how weak our Aussie $$$ is right now I should bargain for all I'm worth! I also got two wallets, one "Dior" and one "Gucci", but not the typical weird little infinity symbol Guccis that you usually see. That was definitely a need because my wallet is falling apart. I really wanted this beautiful "Anna Sui" old fashioned flowered one, but she wouldn't lower her price anymore so we walked out. If I see it again maybe I'll buy it. Although who needs so many wallets? You only really use one... it was really really nice though.

My name is Trin and I'm a shopaholic. Hello everyone.

Back to the past - Italy redux! Part 1 - Milano

Just noticed that I didn't blog about my trip to Italy AT ALL and that is something that needs to be remedied right away! This realisation was brought on because I was looking through a friend's photos from part of the trip and I was like ITALY!!!! :o)

So it started with landing in Milan to visit Diane, where I also tried in vain to get a new Chinese visa. Let me tell you know that it's no fun dealing with Chinese/Italian bureaucracy. The Italians are already crazy and don't believe in lines, which is also in keeping with Chinese people so it's just mass chaos. New York Chinese consulate was very orderly (those Americans keeping everyone in line), as is Sydney. But Milan? OH MY GOD! When I first got there there was a swarm of people hanging about outside the entrance (actually I went there the day before and it was all quiet and I thought SCORE but then found out it wasn't opened on Tuesdays... grrr...) and they were not really letting people in. Or only very slowly. There were these guys selling newspapers and trying to convince you to buy them, and they said if you did you'd scoot to the head of the line... not quite sure, it worked for one person, but I still feel like it was probably some kind of scam. Anyway, I was mashed amongst people for ages and STILL no use! No Visa! Ugh!

And also if I at any point thought Italy wasn't just a little bit racist there's this: they let the Italian looking people through FIRST and even let them PUSH THROUGH the crowd to get to the front. I realised this was because once inside the lines for getting visas was much shorter than the lines for Chinese consular issues (not sure what most people were dealing with) and ONLY the Italian looking people in the visa line. I mean I know it's partly a practical thing, but wouldn't a better system be to have one line for people doing Chinese-y things and one just for visas outside? Ugh... never again. I'm so glad I don't have to deal with Italian style bureaucracy anymore. Hate it!

Not that China is that much better. More organised/less crazy chaos, but long lines at time and so much admin/paperwork! Stamp this, show this, photocopy that. Everything is so exact and precise! I must say that GENERALLY it is fairly efficient though, which is nice. As long as there are no problems everything goes through very quickly, quicker than Australia!

Besides the visa dramas Milan was fun! It was rather surreal walking around and seeing all these familiar things. It kind of felt like it hadn't been that long and yet it was. So much can happen in two years.

I did some touristing around during the day while Diane was at work. I randomly went to Parma when my train to Como didn't turn up (oh Trenitalia... so RELIABLE) because my Lonely Planet said it was famous for its food, particularly ham. I love both food and ham. But Parma was a disappointment because it was August and lots of stuff is closed then. Also my LP is a bit out of date now (it was good in 2006!) and the salumeria in it no longer exists. *sigh* In short, Parma is kind of lame, don't go unless you've got a good reason. Better than you just kind of like ham and don't know where else to go.

I also finally made it to Como, yay for me. Beautiful but I almost puked on the bus from Como to Bellagio and that would have been unpleasant. All those nasty bendy bits in the road. Ugh.

Plus two of my friends from exchange were also in Milan! Score! I was meant to be meeting them in Amalfi but I hadn't realised we'd be in Milan at the same time. I met them in Taxi Blues (just turned up after I got an email saying that was where they'd be for lunch) a cafe near Bocconi university where we always used to eat lunch. And then we did what we always did in Milan and went shopping - down Via Torino!


"Back in Milano!"






Then onwards to aperitivo at Slice. Yum, just as delicious as always. We also tried going out to Old Fashioned Cafe but it was... ba bam BAAAAM! Closed. Dead as a doorknob.



Instead we got the best gelato in Milan from Ciocolat and then ended up at some outdoor drinking place where everyone stands around drinking beer and cheap alcohol.

The next night we had a nice Italian dinner (complete with after dinner espressos and limoncello) and ended up at Old Fashioned again which we'd heard was opening up that night! Such a difference from the night before where we have photos of us standing outside a desolate and slightly decrepit looking gate... It was a great continuation of my Milan reminiscences tour. I'm lucky I had friends there because it would have been a pretty sad place to revisit on my own.

Being at Old Fashioned was just like going out in Italy always was. Although we knew a lot less people. But you always meet skeezy Italian men when you're out and about, particularly if you're with three girls with blue blue blue eyes, and particularly when two of them are blonde! Italians are obsessed with the blonde hair/blue eyes look! I guess it has that foreign appeal that the Italian guys like. Except if you're Asian. Do I sound kind of bitter? I'm not exactly, but it IS annoying. I'm not going to turn this into a rant about Italy and racism (already done that up above) because I'm not living there anymore so there's no point. And there are some really nice Italians too, so I guess it's not fair to lump them all in the same broad category. And dealing with all of that is also a trip down memory lane, just the not so good side.

Overall a good balance. A mixture of the good and the bad. Enough for me to be like "yes there was all this stuff that I forgot that I enjoyed in Milan" combined with enough of the "oh yes, that's right, it was like THAT" so that I could be happy with my re-visit but also happy that it's not my home anymore.

Next up - Amalfi! :o)

Reading over the old to create the new

A burst of creativity always strikes when you have other things that you should be doing. I will call this "procrastination art". I'd like to think of it as being a real talent, maybe just because I spend so much time doing it that I'd rather consider it a positive activity rather than a pure waste of time.

I realised looking through previous posts that I really did run out of thoughts and time along my travels. Big gaps in places and not wholly satisfying descriptions/narratives/anecdotes of my travels. I think it's hard in this kind of situation because you want to make what you're writing about interesting but without getting so personal that you're revealing too much of yourself. It's got to be more than just a description of what you've done and what you've seen and where you've been. Because that's not interesting and if I was going to just do that then I'd just list places and monuments etc. And what makes it even harder is that you're always pushed for time when you're travelling, so you only have 10 minutes here or 30 minutes there, and you're never quite sure of when you'll next get internet!

So I feel like overall I wish I'd written a little more to remember things by. I have photos too, but I suppose that's not quite the same. Did I manage to get down what I was thinking or feeling at certain times? I think it's important to be able to learn from my experiences. And travelling, particularly travelling solo, is the perfect opportunity to be able to explore thoughts, feelings, ideas that you've had gestating in the deep, dark recesses of your subconscious. You come away from it all knowing more about yourself. Or maybe you come away having figured out something that's niggled at you for a long time.

What did I bring away from all of this? That you can't always plan really far into the future and that's ok. Feelings of instability and insecurity are fine, and not knowing where you might be in 5 years is acceptable too. It'll all come in time, and until it does, there's no point stressing yourself out more by worrying. This is not, however, the same as doing nothing and leaving everything to pure chance/luck/fate/ whatever you want to call it! It's more accepting that you don't know everything right now and that's all right.

This is more of an LJ post than anything else, but lacking the ability to access LJ, I'm left with this. I suppose it's an overshare for a travel blog post but I need to put it somewhere!

China - settling down

I finally have internet set up at my grandparent's place in Shanghai so I'll be able to update on my doings in China! And blogspot works here which is good. No LJ but I'll live without it.

I'd like to write something interesting about first impressions etc but then I've been to Shanghai a few times now, so it's not really first impressions at all. I had forgotten what China was like though and from reading my Lonely Planet I guess I'd recreated a very different Shanghai in my head. In reality, Shanghai, although modern, is still a Chinese city, making it VERY different from other, Western cities. I guess because New York, LA, San Fran, although they weren't the same, all had that essential Western city look to them that made me almost feel like I was at home in Australia. Even Mexico City, despite the armed guards with guns (eep!) and the street stalls selling tacos and other various tasty Mexican street meats, was kind of European looking.

But Shanghai is... well you definitely know you're in China. Because it's so quickly developing I thought that perhaps a lot of the inequalities between rich rich and poor poor had disappeared, at least in terms of buildings and infrastructure. However you can still find tall skyscraper apartment buildings next to little shanty type hut things. Although I guess there are less than there used to be. And then you've got all the little fresh food markets, with people selling a whole range of vegetables (yum) and then big slabs of meat just hang out on wooden blocks (not so yum).

So far my classes are ok. I'm in this weird situation of having much better spoken and listening skills than written and reading skills but because of the way the system works here I am all on the same level for all. Not very well organised I suppose, although I have been told some people mix and match classes, but generally have to figure it out on their own. It's good to learn some proper grammar having never really properly studied Chinese before. Just dribs and drabs of when my mother and grandmother tried to teach me, as well as the very uninformative lessons I took at a Chinese school back when I was 11.

Haven't properly made friends yet, but have a few people I talk to in class who are quite nice. I already have family and other connections in China so it's not too lonely. Also meeting up with Xixi in Qingdao was good. It did make my slowly developing Chinese a lot worse, as I didn't have to speak Chinese for about 5 full days! Every day you speak you gain so much, and every day you don't you lose so much. Probably the internet is a bad thing too as it means I'll spend more time in front of it and less trying to talk to my grandparents. Oh well, I'll try to limit myself, and anyway they always vegetate in front of the TV every evening.

Now should study for a dictation test tomorrow!

Food mem

This is unrelated to travel but the list won't come up formatted properly on my other blog so it goes here (as I went to all the effort to go through and do it, including looking up the items that I didn't recognise). Seems there's still a lot of foods I still need to try. Even after you knock out the really gross things like offal. Ew.

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

1. Venison

2. Nettle tea

3. Huevos rancheros

4. Steak tartare

5. Crocodile

6. Black pudding

7. Cheese fondue

8. Carp

9. Borscht

10. Baba ghanoush

11. Calamari

12. Pho

13. PB&J sandwich

14. Aloo gobi

15. Hot dog from a street cart

16. Epoisses

17. Black truffle

18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes

19. Steamed pork buns

20. Pistachio ice cream

21. Heirloom tomatoes

22. Fresh wild berries

23. Foie gras

24. Rice and beans

25. Brawn, or head cheese

26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper

27. Dulce de leche

28. Oysters

29. Baklava

30. Bagna cauda

31. Wasabi peas

32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl

33. Salted lassi

34. Sauerkraut

35. Root beer float

36. Cognac with a fat cigar

37. Clotted cream tea

38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O

39. Gumbo

40. Oxtail

41. Curried goat

42. Whole insects

43. Phaal

44. Goat’s milk

45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more

46. Fugu

47. Chicken tikka masala

48. Eel

49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut

50. Sea urchin

51. Prickly pear

52. Umeboshi

53. Abalone

54. Paneer

55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal

56. Spaetzle

57. Dirty gin martini

58. Beer above 8% ABV

59. Poutine

60. Carob chips

61. S’mores

62. Sweetbreads

63. Kaolin

64. Currywurst

65. Durian

66. Frogs’ legs

67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake

68. Haggis

69. Fried plantain

70. Chitterlings, or andouillette

71. Gazpacho

72. Caviar and blini

73. Louche absinthe

74. Gjetost, or brunost

75. Roadkill

76. Baijiu

77. Hostess Fruit Pie

78. Snail

79. Lapsang souchong

80. Bellini

81. Tom yum

82. Eggs Benedict

83. Pocky

84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.

85. Kobe beef

86. Hare

87. Goulash

88. Flowers

89. Horse

90. Criollo chocolate

91. Spam

92. Soft shell crab

93. Rose harissa

94. Catfish

95. Mole poblano

96. Bagel and lox (salmon)

97. Lobster Thermidor

98. Polenta

99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee

100. Snake

Back in Australia

For the moment I am home. Due to passport/visa issues (have I mentioned them in a previous post? I've been a poor travel blogger so I can't remember), anywa lost passport = need to come back to Australia to get new Chinese visa. Grrr to regulations! Grr to the Olympics which I barely got a chance to watch! Speaking of which, isn't it interestingly disproportionate how many countries barely win any medals while a very few win TOO many? I think so anyway.

Home for 2 weeks and then buzzing off to China. will post about adventures soon!

Lost posts

I've been extremely re miss in my travel blogging, but it's hard when you're on the go! Also, I guess because I ended up spending so much time in Mexico (due to passport mishaps) I figured I could just condense it all into one huge post. Or something.

Where do I begin? Well I'm now in Costa Rica having hopped across the Mexican/Guatemalan border (worst day ever... 14 hour bus ride during the day... I feel like I slept for a lot of it, but I had food poisoning so it wasn't a good sleep), mostly slept my way through Antigua, Guatemala (still due to food poisoning making me too weak to do anything) and flew to San Jose today. I'm here for another full day because I needed a place to stop where I could take a phone interview and big cities are always a good place for that.

I only have one more week of this solo Central American adventure. I should say "Central American" but really it was more just a Mexican adventure. And less an adventure and more like a leisurely stroll, with a few overnight buses, many plane rides, lots and lots of beach time and probably not as much culture as I initially intended to see. And until the food poisoning, a lot of good eating!

In all honesty I can't say that I've really SEEN a lot or really hit up all the things you're meant to see when you go to Mexico. I've met quite a few people, wandered around a lot of parks and markets, and had a lot of time to think, think, think. I haven't pushed myself hard to see everything, even though I've had only a limited amount of time, and I feel like I've just drifted from place to place. This doesn't make me feel unfulfilled, but just... like I'm not sure what I've spent the past month doing?

Anyway, quick catch up on events in Mexico:
1. Mexico City - got my new emergency passport! Toured around the city and went to the archeology museum. In hindsight trying to cram so much history into two hours? Not so doable...
2. Puerto Escondido - surfie beach town where I met up with a girl I'd met earlier and met a really wild Swiss girl. Lots of delicious sushi. And it turns out I am completely hopeless at surfing which shouldn't be a surprise really...
3. San Cristobal - all I can think about this place is food poisoning and evil vegetarian buffet restaurants that give you food poisoning! So much for trying to eat healthy! I also went horse riding and had a really freaking annoying horse that kept bashing me into trees and bushes and flicking mud up at me. Remind me why I used to like horses?

And that's it! Cloud forests, volcanoes and hot springs in Costa Rica coming up soon! Yay!

Getting into the travelling groove

The last post I wrote (before my short story about the Italian) was pretty depressing. But you´ll be glad to know that I´m feeling a lot better and really getting into my travels. I think it´s hard to get accustomed to being a traveller/backpacker and it takes a couple of weeks and I was feeling that kind of loneliness and missing home that you get when you´ve been away for a little while. Califonia doesn´t really count because it wasn´t really travelling. It was visiting friends for the most part, which is really different. Plus it´s just a whole different world up there in the developed land!

So right now I´m loving Mexico. So much so that I´m staying longer than I planned. nothing like going to a place you don´t like so much to make you like where you were a whole lot more! Plus my funds are running a bit lower than I´d like and I´ve heard Belize is a bit pricier so I´m saving it for you mole gal Natalie! Belize when I´ve saved up enough $$$ again!!!

I´m starting to think that having a companion while travelling might be a pretty good thing. I know I´m pretty independent and can handle spending long amounts of time on my own, but there is something to be said for having someone else to look out for you and also someone else to just BE there in that shitty experience when you´re waiting for the bus or your flight has been delayed (nearly all my flights have been delayed! what the hell? the only one that wasn´t delayed was so shit I thought we´d crash!) or just whatever. I met an Irish couple and she was really sick on the bus and he was looking after her and really concerned and he held back her hair while she puked. Which is gross but very sweet. Nobody holds your hair when you´re travelling on your own.

what i love about travel is that you get to be you but outside of everything external. so you can be and do anything and test out all your limits. its strange because ive realised ive got more limits than i did when i was travelling through europe. two years and im more set as a person. When i was travelling through europe i was so... i guess inexperienced in a lot of ways, but that meant i was so open to ALL new experiences that i could just do anything. now im older and more tied down with responsibilities and... i dont even know what it is. i guess you get older and you change and you cant do that crazy party stuff all the time anymore. Or i cant. Im much happier to sit and chill with a drink and chat than to go out and party the night away. Id rather meet and talk to and just chill with lots of different and interesting people than just meet guys who just want one thing and party with people.

my brain really isn´t working well. I think it´s the sun. And maybe the extremely large daiquiri I had last night. Very delicious, but HUGE! It totally knocked me out so I slept like a baby, even in the dump that I stayed in last night.

A funny story about an Italian stallion

I thought this was really funny so I had to share it.

On my way from Cancun to Playa del Carmen I was waiting for the bus from the airport and I started chatting to an Italian guy living in LA. I should have picked straight away that he was Italian because 1) he had a bossini bag 2) he had a ridiculous amount of luggage for a relatively short trip 3) he had a furry leopard print hat and 4) he was checking out the ladies like there was no tomorrow! Anyway he quickly decided I wasn´t particularly cool and he found some other Italians to talk to instead. So I got to sit there and see him interact with others instead. It started raining down ridiculously hard, i had to put my pack on my raincoat so the bottom wouldnt get wet and i had my umbrella out to protect me from the rain coming in diagonally. when i ran out into the rain to get into the bus, i was in the rain for about 5 seconds and got completely drenched.

Anyway when I got on the bus I ended up sitting across and just a little behind from the Italian stallion. He´d found a Spanish Cougar (I think she was Spanish, I heard her speaking Spanish earlier and they were speaking Spanish or Italian together but I couldn´t really hear properly). She was really beautiful, very made up and in a revealing red halter top and tight jeans. But she must have definitely been at least 40, maybe late 40s? Eye lines never lie, a good eye cream is a good investment. He was probably late 20s, maybe early 30s. About 20 minutes into the trip I looked over and they were making out passionately in their seats. Interesting. I didn´t think that people really felt romantic on buses, but I guess this proves me wrong.

Although I should have remembered the gropey Belgian from Vietnam, he thought that buses made me romantic but... no.

However, some people do just get on a bus, meet someone and then feel sexy. I suppose.

I guess I am at Playa del Carmen and it´s a party place!

And he was Italian...

:)

Mexico

As I was travelling by boat out here to Isla Mujeres I had a lot of thoughts floating through my head and now that I´m here in front of a computer it´s all a big blank. I´m enjoying Mexico so far for the most part, but I´ve decided that due to lack of time Im just going to limit my time here and get moving along to Belize almost straight after Havana.

It was pretty rough sleeping last night, my room is like a sweat box. Six people crammed into a little room with only three fans, the room ends up being hotter than outside. I drifted in and out of delirium and was rudely awoken by a guy in my room turning on the toilet light so I got up and lay in a hammock outside near the party dance floor. Not the best place to fall asleep, but it was cool at least. This morning I got up early and lay in a hammock again, much quieter this time.

I can´t help but feel slightly wrong and out of place here. Getting used to the travelling life style again is hard. Being a solo traveller is harder than I remember. The place Im staying at now is apparently a party hostel, never my favourite kind. Not that I have anything against partying and all of that, but I just find that I tend to enjoy myself more at places where its a bit more chilled out and relaxed and theres not always this constant need to go go go.

Im glad that Im here and pushing myself out of my comfort zone, but it just seems so much harder this time around. Im older and I dont want the same things anymore. Perhaps I know myself better, I dont even know. it just feels really different this time around. I still like talking to new people and looking around and doing new things, but... I dont know.

I feel kind of like a fraud or something. Like im travelling but im just pretending and everyone else is the genuine article. does that even make sense? its all surreal like im floating way above myself and looking down on it all.

I wasnt as impressed with isla mujeres as everyone else said i would be. Is there something Im missing? Its just a kind of pretty, fairly touristy island with nice sand and clear water. Is that spoilt or what? I think Im beached out. Its great but I dont like to just lie around like a beached whale...

Yosemite and LA

I'm skipping over a couple of days of San Fran because I did almost nothing for them. I did some laundry, relaxed, watched some trashy American TV and caught up on some sleep. Fun, but not exciting. Didn't really deserve the sentence I just wrote about it.

Anyway, Tanzila and I booked a Bug Bus Tour to Yosemite, but unfortunately for us, they didn't have any cabins left so we got stuck camping. There's nothing more annoying than camping when you know there are beds nearby. It was a fun trip but really hazy because of all the fires over here right now. So the amazing views? Not that amazing right now.

Been in LA for a couple of days and stayed with a (mostly absent) friend. Nice to see the city though and drive around a bit. Am in a hostel now in Hollywood. Hollywood is a bit decrepit and not as glam as it probably was 60 years ago. I'll see what it's like in the morning!

Weekend in Monterey

Last weekend I went on a road trip with 3 of my close friends from exchange, Carmen, Lena and Victoria, and also met up with another friend, Ilene, and her boyfriend Jairo. We started in San Francisco and I finally got to see the scrapbook that Lena had made of Milan. It was incredible, she'd gone to a lot of trouble and it both beautifully decorated and thoughtful, with lots of photos and some text too. I wish I had something like that from my trip, but I guess I have the stacks of emails that I sent, as well as all the great photos and videos with so many memories.

We drove down to Monterey along Highway 101 (the non-scenic route as we were rushing to get there) and listened to Italian songs that Lena had on her Ipod and it brought back many of the exchange life memories. It was strange to constantly be flashing back to my life 2-2.5 years ago and constantly re-living everything but knowing that I'm here in the now and my whole life is different. But the friendships that I had are kind of the same, we're still essentially the same people that we were around each other, even if we aren't exactly the same people that we were two years ago. If that makes sense at all. We've all progressed down the road of life, but the bonds that we created feel the same. So it's this sense of familiarity and yet not at the same time. A very odd feeling. But really wonderful to still have that bond.

I can't say Monterey was particularly inspiring. It was full of very old people and was a bit hokey. You know the term one-horse town? This is a one-horse town and it's an old horse that's been put out to pasture. Service in restaurants was slow, food was mediocre and there was nothing to do after 10pm, not really. Our hotel was quite nice (and fairly cheap!) and we got to drive down Big Sur (coastline between Monterey and LA) which was gorgeously rugged and was a nice scenic drive and then we lazed on a beach.

On our way back to San Francisco we went through Santa Cruz which was much more alive and happening and we went on a roller coaster (I screamed) and we ate organic food (which I liked, but not everyone did) which was kind of vegan and had lots of raw food options. Very hippy-dippy but seemed kind of California. Also good to detox a bit and get some healthy food into our systems after all that eating out.

Today I just relaxed, mooched around online trying to plan things and generally did not get much done. Tanzila is joining me very soon! :o)

What's with the weather?

The weather in San Francisco is a little crazy - global warming strikes again!

I'm too lazy for a full post but the past few days have been very busy. I've been to:
1. Wednesday - Golden Gate Bridge - where I walked across it and then down to Sausalito. Very pretty view (amazing actually but I'm too tired to find good words to describe it - pictures will help!) but I'm really not fit enough for this as my back was pretty sore for days after this. Definitely worth it though... I had my first American hamburger there, not very good but the view from the window of the cafe was exquisite.
For dinner we had a nice feast at home that Carmen made. Chicken, salad and a pasta thing, really delicious!

2. Thursday - tour of the gay area called "the Castro" - interested and informative about some history of the area, but I came away thinking how strange it is how strong the sense of community, belonging and labelling everything is here.
I also checked out the San Fran Museum of Modern Art and was lucky enough to be here for the Frida Kahlo exhibition. Very intense but fascinating.

3. Thursday night - Sunday - road trip with girls from exchange! More on this soon, I'm too tired right now.

Shopping... and a museum

After a lazy day yesterday (after my bad dream I couldn't face going out and figuring things out in the city) I got up early to walk down Haight St, which is famous for being hippy land during the 60s and also near where the Grateful Dead lived. I missed the tour they have on Tuesdays, so I didn't learn much, but I did go shopping and bought a patchwork skirt, silk pants (Asian style) and a tie up muslin cardigan. All kind of hippy-ish and perfect for traveling through Central America in! I also walked up a hill and got some great views of the city. Worth every puff and sore legs (just because of my general lack of fitness).

I also walked through Golden Gate Park to the de Young Museum. I think I was offered drugs twice and an old homeless man might be in love with me (for no reason I can understand, maybe he'd bought some happy drugs). It's also where I think San Francisco's homeless people go to hang out. Here they carry all their worldly possession in shopping trolleys, which you see full of clothes (and not really much else). It was funny because the trolleys were all parked down the hill (like a parking lot) and the homeless people were hanging out on the grass, drinking, talking, doing whatever. And now I feel like I know what homeless people do during their days.

The de Young museum had a really beautiful glass exhibit by an artist named Chihuly. I'll have to put up some pictures that I took (and normally I don't take photos of art that I see in museums) because it was incredible. Maybe just google it. The rest of the exhibitions were a bit underwhelming (should have seen them first!) but this was very cool. Then I went next door to the Japanese tea gardens for a nice walk around and some tea and cookies. If you ever go to San Francisco I don't recommend the tea garden except as a place to have a rest, but note that it costs $4 to get in, and another $5 for your tea and cookies, so you could go somewhere else for a break.

And tonight I went shopping with Carmen and we both bought a bit of stuff (I got two dresses, a pair of shoes and some shorts). It's been a spend-y day for me so I'm going to go easy on the shopping for awhile. I don't want my money to run out before I get to New York!

Now, mostly we've been eating at home because it's cheaper and more homely I guess, but last night Carmen and I went to the Mission (a kind of Latino neighbourhood in San Francisco - it's a slightly poorer area I guess, but it has a lot of bars and clubs and restaurants so it's a fun place to go) to eat at Andalu, a tapas style Mexican/Spanish/Asian style restaurant, which I recommend to everyone who comes here. The service was not great (just kind of slow and the front of house was a bit dopey - not rude or anything, just slow) but the food was incredible. So delicious! We had these "ahi tacos" (fish - tuna I think? - tacos) that were so more-ish and we got a cheese fondue which was divine and went perfectly with the toast and bread. And dessert was donut holes that you dipped in little cups of thick, dark hot chocolate with cream on top. It also has an extensive wine and cocktail list. I can only vouch for the sangria (yum) and according to Carmen they make good faux-hitos (virgin mojito). I will be posting photos of these when I get around to it, because it was so, so good.

Spooky malaria pill induced dreams

I just had the most horrible dream that I had to wrench myself out of. I'd completely missed my flight in my dream because I'd just forgotten about it. Completely forgotten. I was still working and I'd worked PAST my flight date. It doesn't sound THAT scary but because it just felt so real (you know how you're in dreams sometimes and it feels real but you know it's a dream so it's ok? Not like that... just felt real) it was such a horrible experience. And then I couldn't get out of it easily, I had to just wrench myself out of the dream and luckily my alarm went off. But I woke up 45 minutes ago and it's still really fresh in my mind, when normally dreams fade after 2 minutes of being awake.

I blame this weird chloroquin stuff. It'd better freakin' save me from malaria when I get to Central America.

Further proof that drugs are bad mmm'kay? I swear that I am now thinking in (my interpretation of) an American accent. Oh my god, how is this possible? I can't even think that without being all "gawwwd" instead of just plain "god" in a nice clipped tone. AAAaaaahhhh!!! And the thing is I'm not SPEAKING any differently, it's just all in my head. I'm going to go and eat some vegemite on toast and Australian-ise myself.

San Francisco #1

I've now been in San Francisco for a day and a half. I'm not sure if it's because I'm staying with my friend Carmen and not at a hotel or hostel, but it all feels so... normal. Just like me going to Melbourne or Brisbane or somewhere in Australia. Yes I'm hearing American accents, but Carmen's is familiar to me and I guess I hear them on TV all the time, so I'm kind of desensitized to that. There's no real culture shock (except the food, OMG the portion sizes! HUGE! It's such a WASTE of food, who eats that much? And this is in San Francisco, which is a rich city, in California, which is a relatively health state, I'm not hitting any of the mid-west states where apparently it's all just grease and massive everything - including people) because it's very similar to an Australian city. Looks-wise it's a little bit like Melbourne, with the trams and straight streets in the city and very minimalist style of architecture. It even has the slightly weird and changeable weather patterns. It's not so much the 4 seasons in one day, but it can be really chilly and then really hot within the same hour. Very odd. And confusing for my wardrobe because I didn't really plan for much cold weather!

So far Carmen has taken me around, which has been really great because I firstly haven't had to navigate my way around and could just kind of settle in nicely and it's been really nice to have some company to see things and explain a bit. From tomorrow (Tuesday) I'm on my own to see the city, which is also good because it'll give me some independence to really see a lot of stuff without boring her by my tourist-y ways! :P

I'll post more impressions and thoughts of San Francisco when I've seen more of the city, this is just a first impression, and all good Austenians (Austenites?) know that first impressions can be so wrong, just like we know that all men with a good income are looking for a wife. ;o) So far all I've seen is Carmen's place (nice!), the Bay Bridge (just a big concrete bridge, but good views, from what I could see from the car), Union Square (huge billboard of David Beckham's abs - it's HUGE and his abs look very delicious), Chinatown (rather like Chinatown in Sydney, you know, they're always kind of the same) and Berkeley (not as hippy as I thought it'd be, kind of small with a few hippies strolling around. Not more hippy than the South and Central Coast in Australia can get). Plus we went to an Italian "festival" in North Beach, which was ok, just a lot of stalls selling stuff (mostly not Italian weirdly enough) and some not particularly good bands playing on the grass. The food was all just fried stuff (not a food festival *sad*) so Carmen and I I got some very greasy garlic fries (good but a handful was ENOUGH) and deep friend calimari with lime to share. And it was nice and relaxing and not too tourist-y (with the main tourist element being ME because I took a few photos, which I'll put up on Facebook eventually, but I can't upload my photos because I forgot a cable so I need a computer with an SD slot - mine's waiting for me in China so you might not get photos until September).

Edit
I completely forgot but yesterday I also went to a kind of look out near Carmen's place and we saw all these hang gliders. It looks like so much fun, I think I might try and take a lesson. It's a bit pricey but you get to fly like a bird!

Delayed, delayed, delayed

I'm waiting in the Sydney airport for my flight.
It's already been delayed by over 3 hours, and now there's no news. Last I heard I was meant to be board about 20 minutes ago. No call. I've heard one flight has been delayed until 10pm tonight and it was meant to leave MUCH earlier today. They're claiming "maintenance" issues. On so many aircrafts?

At least I have internet now... and it's free!

This is a particularly in auspicious start to my trip. I'm hoping that it's like rehearsal dinners before a wedding, the worse the pre-event, the better the actual event! Here's hoping!

Pre-trip posting

I feel like I should solemnly declare this to be my travel blog or at least do something to formalise this migration away from LiveJournal for a blog. I've had that blog for years and years now, so this is somewhat foreign, somewhat. I guess it's really same same but different.

I'm jetting off this Saturday, which is coming up very quickly. It seems just yesterday that I was driving up to Sydney (actually 1.5 weeks ago) and just counting down the days, but now I've barely got any time to wait for at all! My packing is... not going that quickly, but there aren't THAT many things that I need to pack. Toiletries are done (although I need a loofah/sponge), important documents are printed out (still need to photocopy my passport) and all that's left are electronic things (chargers mostly) and clothes and then I'm done!

I'm going to insert my itinerary here, just FYI if anyone is interested:

1. 14 June (Sat): Arrive in San Francisco

2. 20-22 June (Fri-Sun): Trip to Monterey/Big Sur

3. 23-27 June (Mon-Fri): Yosemite + San Fran (again)

4. 27June-3July: Arrive in LA - hang out, see the city

5. 4-7July: 4th July long weekend - San Diego
6. 7 July-mid August: Central America - Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica etc.
7. 14 August: arrive LA/Vegas

8. 15-17 August: Las Vegas weekender

9. 18 August-24August: Trin in NYC
10. 24-25 August: in transit to Milan
12. 25-28 August: Visiting northern Italy (including Torino, Valle D'Aosta)
13. 29-31 August: Weekend trip to Marseille
14. 31 August - 3/4 September: Beach trip to Amalfi coast
15. Early September: Flight from Milan into Shanghai - date being changed
16. 5 Feb 2009 - Home time - Arrive in Sydney, Australia