September 15th, 2011 by Rachel | Country: China | No Comments »

Monday night, Sophia, her husband and I were all dying for a grand feast after having not eaten much on the trip.  So, we went to a big “hot pot” restaurant.  As I mentioned in a previous post, hot pot is a Chinese dish where families and friends will gather around at a table and cook food via a hot pot.  We ate different kinds of pork, vegetables, and tofu.  I am not going to deny that it was the best dinner I had as it brought back the good memories of when Sophia and I made delicious hot pots in her flat in London.

I also can’t forget to mention that, as I was the only westerner in the restaurant, I got many noticeable stares.  At one point, I turned my head around slightly, and I saw a man behind me snapping photos of me via his phone!  I wasn’t pissed.  I laughed.  People have the right to be curious about who I was and there is nothing wrong with it.  If only I could speak Chinese, I would share my story with them about what I was doing at this place.

A few hours after the wonderful feast, the world turned upside down.  I woke up after going to sleep for about an hour or two feeling completely nauseated.  I thought, “Oh no!  This can’t be happening!”  I became very ill with bad food poisoning.  There is no need for me to tell the details as that would be ‘too much information.’

Sophia assisted me to the hospital where they had an international travel clinic the following morning.  It was the longest day of my life.  I was in so much pain that every time I was standing such as in an elevator, I had to sit down.  My stomach, back, chest and head were all hurting so badly and I was constantly nauseated.  I felt like I wanted to shoot myself.  I was in complete tears and hysteria.  The doctors and nurses tried to calm me down by not only letting me know what they could do for me and that they were there for me, but also letting me know that I was the third foreign traveler with the exact same symptoms to arrive at the hospital that day!  I should note that I arrived at the hospital at 8 AM in the morning!

I was treated with antibiotics via IV at the hospital and sent home with pills.  I am now doing much better today than I was last Tuesday, but I am going to take it easy until I head to the next destination….

SHANGHAI!

Yes.  I made changes again for the umpteenth time.  After a lot of thorough thinking, even though Sophia and I don’t want to leave each other early, we felt that it is best for me to avoid visiting her in-laws who live in a rural area because god forbid I get sick again, getting medical help would be extremely difficult – it would take the whole day to get to the nearest hospital!  When Sophia mentioned this concern to me, I remembered why I should appreciate the health care my country, the US, has to offer – its advanced medical facilities that allow people to get medical attention as soon as possible, even utilizing helicopters.  When the shooting at Gabrielle Gifford’s meeting occurred last January, my friend from Brazil said to me, “What impressed me the most about the news coverage was how quickly these people were able to receive medical attention.  We don’t have this speedy care in many locations in Brazil.”

So, I will be leaving Haikou this Saturday morning and will be heading to Shanghai and staying with a family friend from the US until Thursday of next week when I head back to North America.

September 14th, 2011 by Rachel | Country: China | No Comments »

Where do I start?  The past several days have been nothing but misery and humor.  I know it’s a strange combo, but let me explain in this post.  Last Saturday early morning, Sophia, her husband and I took off for a three day tour to Sanya, a nearby destination in Hainan province.  We went with a Chinese owned tourist company.  While normally when travelers are with tourist groups, we do not get the rich cultural experience; however, for me, being the only westerner on the tour group was a surreal experience.  You can imagine all the stares I got on the bus!  The bus was in bad condition – it was totally worn down and it looked like it was from the 1980′s or 1990′s and the bus should be thrown in the garbage by now.  So, off we went!

Garbage on the bus – disgusting!

At our first stop, we stepped on boats made of wood or materials that appeared to be made of bamboo.  These boats were not typical boats…they only had a floor and no walls to protect us from falling.  Cool!  I have to admit that I was excited to be sailing on a very exotic boat!  A Chinese man who was paddling the boat pointed to my bags and told me to give them to him because we were going to get wet.  Ok…but I want my camera to take pictures!  He insisted that it needed to be put in a bin to stay dry.  Then a moment a later I saw some water squirting and it looked like it was only going to get worse.  OK.  I wasn’t going to wreck my expensive camera for umpteenth time and so, I put it in the bin.  The next thing I knew, I was completely soaked by BIG water pumps squirting water at me and others!  My hair went from dry and straight to completely curly and dripping water.  To make matters worse, rain was pouring hard!  I had a long day head of me before I could get into a shower!  Ugh…

Then we headed to a beach where it was drizzling a bit, and the scenery was rather distasteful thanks to the weather that ruined it!  I imagine if there were sun, I would see glistening bright blue water with white sand.  Then rain poured down really hard again. Sophia and I were both standing by the ocean, holding one umbrella together as the wind gushed away.  Sophia screamed in hysteria wanting to get out of the rain.  I said to Sophia as we were standing in the rain, “If we were in Kenya and outside in the rain,  we’d be dancing and rejoicing in their country because it means the crops will grow and they will have food to eat! So, let’s enjoy the rain!”  Sophia looked at me like I was a total idiot, but I insisted her that it was true.  I understand that dealing with rain can get old, but I was trying to be positive in midst of this misery.

Then we had lunch at a random place where food looked gross.  I just ate nothing but rice.  This kind of meal, including dinner, continued throughout the trip except for the second night when Sophia, her husband, and I took off from the group and went to a Brazilian restaurant on our own.  I would call it Chinese-Brazilian because it definitely had some Chinese flavor.

Somewhere along the way, we made a stop at a coconut “factory” shop.  The reason I’m quoting “factory” is because the place claims to be a factory, but it’s really a big advertisement place trying to grab our attention to buy their products.  Then, we made a stop at a fish market, then at a gemstone place, then at a tea place, then another big random outlet shop.  We didn’t just stop and shop there.  We also had to sit through the lectures, listening to presenters promote the products.  Of course, I couldn’t understand a word, but just from observing and hearing Sophia’s brief translation, I got the gist that I was practically sitting in a live commercial show.  The scenes were rather quite a riot!  Sales people were holding the products throughout the show, telling us why we should buy their products and giving us deals.  By the time we got to the fifth commercial stop, Sophia raged out of the place and instead of watching the comical people trying to sell us crap, we watched Chinese people driving down the road.  In my own American eyes, it was more exciting to watch people on the road than at the commercial stop because the vehicles and people were so interesting and exotic.  Seeing four teenagers sitting on one motorcycle, a group of people sitting in the back of a trunk, and one man whispering to another man and staring at me in a car was all amusing.

I later learned that the purpose of these stops was that they were giving the tour groups money and therefore, that is what made our tour group cost so cheap – 200 RMB!  That is equivalent to USD $31 for three days, two nights, all meals included, hotel stays and a few admissions, such as to a couple temples and parks!

Speaking of visiting some temples, we visited a few Buddhist temples, and it was my first time seeing them.  It was a real eye opener for me to see religious sites other than Catholicism and Judaism.  When I first stepped in a temple and gazed at the interior design, I nearly had a heart attack.  I saw “swastikas” everywhere and said, “How can that be?”.  As a Jew, it was hard for me, at first, to grasp that this symbol was shown everywhere in the temple.  Then I remembered from my middle school history class my teacher telling us that the “swastika” is actually a very old symbol that has been around for thousands and thousands of years in Buddhism and represents happiness, good and long life, luck and good fortune.  I came to realization that the Nazis totally ruined the impression of an integral symbol in the Buddhist religion!

I had an opportunity to attend and observe a service.  In Buddhism, the religious teacher tells a fortune to each person or to each married couple after a service.  When it was my turn, Sophia stood next to me waiting to translate for me.  Sophia asked him, “Do I need to translate your fortunes for her?”  The religious teacher knew from my physical appearance that I am not a Buddhist and so, he said, “No, I know that she doesn’t practice Buddhism and so, I need to respect her beliefs.”   I was thankful that he was a wise man who recognized that there is a diversity of people who come from all walks of life.

Interior of a Temple

Rain continued to pour throughout the trip.  Sun barely peaked through the clouds.

We finally came back on Monday night, and I will tell the rest of the story in subsequent posts.

September 10th, 2011 by Rachel | Country: China | 2 Comments »

September 9th, 2011 by Rachel | Country: China | No Comments »

There is not much to talk about what Sophia and I both did during the day as we did mostly business stuff, such as going to the bank to take out lots of cash as credit cards are not commonly used here in China and to finalize our next adventure plans, and I should note that we made some changes.  We’re heading to Sanya, known as one of the most beautiful beaches in China, for the weekend.  Then we’ll head back to Haikou on Monday night and spend a few more days here and will head off to the next destination, Guilin, a destination known for its most ASTONISHING scenery (Google it!) for two days and then to a rural area near Hefei to visit Sophia’s husband’s parents who live by a farm where they grow rice.  Then I fly back to the US on the 22nd of this month.  Sorry, no Beijing and the Great Wall of China this time!  It’s more important for me to experience the family life and the culture of the country than the touristy destinations.  I’ll get to the capital city another time!  Maybe next year when I can use my $600 voucher to fly to anywhere in the world that I got last week for volunteering to be bumped onto another flight back to London.

Anyway, back to what the original post should be about – Nightlife in Haikou!  I’ve never seen so many neon lights in one city.  I know that I talked about it in the last post, but I am still in awe of them.  I asked Sophia, “Isn’t it expensive to be running all these neon lights as they’re using a lot of electricity?”  She said that they like using the neon lights because they make the cities brighter and more comfortable to navigate at night.  Then I realized that in the US, even though we rarely use neon lights, we still use a lot of lights as many shops leave the lights on in their stores through the night even when they’re not open.  So, I am going to present photos of my observations, and I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

Note the big jumbo TV screen on one of the stores!

Can you spot the KFC in the photo?

September 8th, 2011 by Rachel | Country: China | No Comments »

Other than Times Square in New York City, I’ve never seen so many neon lights! I should also mention that I am fascinated to see that jumbo TVs are commonly seen on buildings and are used to post advertisements. The only time I’ve seen jumbo TVs on buildings is again, Times Square!

Jumbo TV on a building

Here also are some pictures of what Haikou looks like during the day. The architecture is not much different or thrilling as what I’ve see in Europe. It’s very ordinary and simple as I see in the US.

September 8th, 2011 by Rachel | Country: China | 2 Comments »

After having had a good night sleep, I woke up with so much energy and was too excited just to sit in bed for awhile and relax. After getting ready for the day, I e-mailed Sophia with the subject line, “Good morning sunshine!” and in the e-mail, I wrote, “I’m up and all ready to start my day!” I’m staying in a hotel room, but I am in the same building where Sophia is living – I’m on the 33rd floor and she’s on the 10th floor. Hotels here are so cheap – USD $25 per night! It is in very nice condition, and I would say it’s a 3 star hotel. I will take a pic tomorrow of the room so you can see how I’m paying a price that is a steal!

People have always told me that getting to China is the most expensive part, but once you’re in the country, everything is disgustingly cheap. Today, Sophia and I stopped at a cellphone store so that I could buy a sim card for my iPhone so I can stay connected to my beloved world 24/7. I was totally dumbfounded by the price and how much internet I could get in this country. I even asked Sophia to make sure that we were getting the right info. I paid USD $24 for FOUR GIGAbytes of internet along with phone calls and text, and that was the LOWEST plan. I told Sophia that there is NO way that it can be 4 GB because in the US, 2 GB is usually the maximum we can get for internet on mobile phones, and that 2 GB is way more than what we need for a month. As far as I’m concerned, I have internet on my phone so I can take pics and upload them to the net for the world to see, and I have access to reaching Sophia in case we somehow get separated.

Anyway, let’s go back a little. This morning was really the first time I got to really see THE country. As soon as I stepped outside, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Many women walking down the streets were wearing these hats that I’m just going call “umbrella” hats because they look like umbrellas. I said to Sophia, “I want to buy a hat like this! It does not exist in the US.” Then I saw a woman carrying a big huge log with baskets of fruits hanging on each end. “Sophia, I NEED a picture of that woman!” I will admit that I am a bit shy to ask Chinese people here if I can take pictures of them because I’ve found from my personal experiences that no matter where I am in the world, Asians are normally too shy to be photographed. Sophia went up to the woman and asked her if she would pose for me, and she said, “No.” I should note that where I am now is not a touristy spot, and I am practically the only Westerner here. I am mentioning this because the reason is not because these Chinese people don’t like be chased by tourists. They are just simply in general too shy. We saw many more woman wearing umbrella hats, and Sophia tried to ask them, but all said “No.”

“This is so depressing,” said Sophia.

“This is normal in the Asian culture,” I told her and explained to her about my personal experiences in asking Asians to be photographed.

“But I can’t understand because I love being in pictures,” she said. Wherever Sophia and I were in London, Sophia always said, “Take a picture of me here!” I have loads of pictures of Sophia at every spot we can name in London. I told Sophia that she is unique and unusual.

We both agreed that since we have several more days here in Haikou, we will find at least one woman who will let me photograph a portrait of her. We are determined to make it happen! Bring on the challenge!

However, at least I got a ton of great action shots – I encountered many people riding mopeds and bikes and selling food on the street.

I was also astonished to see a bike with a really interesting looking carriage attached to it. What struck me even more than the bikes and mopeds were the cars. I was envisioning that China would have mostly old cars that look like they are ready to be thrown into the dumpster as that is what I encountered in Peru. I thought China would be similar to Peru in someways because they are both developing countries. However, every single car on the road look totally brand new. They look like as if they have been just sold from the shop. Sophia explained to me that because China’s economy has been rising so quickly in the past two decades, more and more people are becoming richer and richer and have been able to afford cars only recently. She said that prior to the 1980′s, before the cultural revolution, cars were a rare sight in China and that roads had almost nothing but people riding bikes. I should mention that the roads are beautifully paved in Haikou, something I did not expect because the roads I encountered in Peru were not well maintained with a lot of cracks and way too many potholes. Sophia said that it’s very common to find well-paved roads in major cities, but I would find that roads are in bad condition in rural areas.

Also many Chinese people including Sophia use an umbrella on sunny days to protect themselves from the heat and sunlight.

Today was a simple day of observing a whole new world. I will discuss food tomorrow after I verify the names of the food with Sophia I tried today.

September 7th, 2011 by Rachel | Country: China | No Comments »

Shanghai seriously has the worst smog I’ve ever encountered personally.  I thought Atlanta was the worst I’ve seen as I’ve seen haze while growing up there.  Seeing how noticeable the smog is really disheartens me because it not only affects the quality of the environment of our planet but also our health.  I should do some research to see if there are any initiatives happening in China to combat the pollution issue.

September 7th, 2011 by Rachel | Country: China | 1 Comment »

I was coincidentally on the same flight from London to Shanghai as my flatmate from China, Wentig.  Wentig said to me at the airport, “You will get a lot of stares by the locals in many parts of China because they have rarely seen Westerners, but they are the nicest people you’ll ever met.”  I thought to myself, “Stares are really not the end of the world.”

“Stares” is a topic that frequently comes up in my circle of friends with hearing loss.  Many of them get stares when their cochlear implant sound processors are visible, especially guys as their hair does not cover them.  I haven’t experienced noticing people staring at me because I wear my hair down most of the time, which covers my sound processors.  My friends tell me that strangers staring at their ears bothers them because they think it’s rude.  I tell them that strangers do not intend to be rude, but instead, they are just simply curious because they’ve never seen such a thing on a human being.  I tell them it’s a blessing for someone to stare at their ears because we are creating an awareness of the existence of the technology providing deaf people the access to hear.  Believe it or not, not many people know there is a technology that allows deaf people to be able to hear almost like a normal hearing person.  (There is a great video clip on YouTube, “Man on the Street” depicting a host interviewing random people on the streets, asking them “What is a cochlear implant?”  Almost everyone said “No.”  I would provide the link, but I can’t acces YouTube in China.  So, if one of my friends who is reading this blog knows which video clip I am talking about, would you please be willing to post the link in the comment?) If my friends with hearing loss do have a moment to spare, they also can take the time to explain what the device does, how it works, and also share their story of living with it.

While I was waiting at the gate in Shanghai to head to Haikou, I was surrounded by Chinese.  I was the only Westerner.  People were staring at me and looking at me like as if to say, “What is this westerner doing here with us?”

I see Chinese people who will stare at me as an opportunity to open them to another culture while staying in their hometown.  However, the downside is that I do not know any Chinese, and so I will not be able to share my culture and lifestyle unless they speak English or if I have my friend, Sophia, interpret.  I do hope to have an opportunity to learn Chinese one day.

I also have to agree that the Chinese are the nicest people.  When I was on the plane to Haikou, all of the magazines on the plane were in Chinese.  The flight attendant came to me and handed me a Chinese newspaper written in English.  I didn’t request it at all.  He just handed it to me.

September 7th, 2011 by Rachel | Country: China | No Comments »

I really hate the first day of traveling overseas. I’m jet-lagged. I’m writing this note on my iPhone on the plane ride to Haikou from Shanghai. Please forgive me for typos.

I’ve been going non-stop in London since I returned there last Saturday after a month long vacation at my parents’. I was cleaning out my flat and handling some last minute business. I had only four hours of sleep the night before I headed out to China as I couldn’t fall asleep until late at night due to jet-lag coming from the US. I woke up at the crack of dawn to say goodbye to my dear friends on a very dreary and rainy weather day in London.

Then I hopped on the plane for an 11 and a half hour journey. Sleeping on the plane is hard.

When I got to Shanghai, I felt overwhelmed and beyond exhausted. My body had this queasy feeling as if it’s totally confused about what time it is at the moment. I wanted to go straight to bed. I felt I wanted to be cranky and didn’t feel the thrill of excitement. I ALWAYS have this feeling when I first land in a new country where the surroundings are so strange and unfamiliar. The airport was very nice and easy to navigate, but it was being the minority and surrounded by a totally unfamiliar language that gave me the feeling of discomfort and being dislocated. Fortunately, because of my physical appearance, all Chinese knew to speak English to me.

I noticed while waiting for my baggage in Shanghai that the inseams on my shirt didn’t seem right and then I saw a label sticking out on the side. Uh oh! I’m such a total dork. What’s even worse is that when I was changing batteries for my sound processors, I had them on the wrong ear! I guess I was too tired to bother to notice. For those who are not familiar with cochlear implants, switching sound processors is like putting prescription contact lenses in the wrong eyes. That’s what I got for lack of sleep.

I hope to have a good night’s sleep and be able to start fresh tomorrow. From my past experiences of traveling to another country, when I have a good night’s sleep and am well rested, my personality changes. I wake up and say, “Let’s get going! I’m ready to start a new adventure!”

September 7th, 2011 by Rachel | Country: China | No Comments »

I am at the airport in Shanghai waiting to transfer to Haikou to see Sophia. More later…