Just 3 hours on the road outside of Shanghai is an awesomely calming, bamboo forest retreat area of Moganshan. (“shan” means “mountain”)
Fun Factoid! = Famed film, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” was filmed in Moganshan.
Over the last couple years, this has become quite the hot spot for mini weekend getaways from the hustle and bustle of the ‘Hai life. While there are a good handful of lodging spots spaced out in the Moganshan area, we opted for a brand new spot called, Prodigy Outdoor, and came out BEYOND satisfied with our experience with them. From super dee duperly courteous, helpful and smiling staff,… to uber clean and comfortable facilities,… to a great variety of fresh and delicious home-made dishes at every meal,… to beautiful, lush bamboo greenery all around us, to… refreshing calmness all around us, Prodigy gets a thumbs up!!!
We received roundtrip transfer Shanghai-Moganshan (3 hour each way) + lodging + meals… all for a total of roughly $100usd from Friday night to Sunday late afternoon. Plus, we (myself, Wan Hing and Brittany) lucked out in that a 20-person traveling group had a last minute cancel, which allowed for us to have our own room – that was designed to fit 10 people total…. That was an uber score for us!!
Check some flicks:
Outside our balcony…
Hiking…
Various patches of bamboo were marked off by family names/owners:
Our guide dog, “Happy”…
I’m practicing my fighting moves with bamboo stick, just in case some crouching tigers and/or hidden dragons attack..
All of our meals looked a lil’ something like this!
Then, back to the wilderness where we ran into a herd of goats!!
NZ is not just about naturally beautimous landscapes, but culture too!
We got a lil’ bit of it all up in Rotorua in the North Island: Geysers, Mudpools and an evening with the Maori people– who kept us entertained by teaching us traditional games, performing song and dance …and feeding us an awesome all-you-can-eat hangi dinner meal!
Daytime = Chill time to enjoy the park and natural surrounding beauties.
Evening = Lundy got re-acquainted with his seemingly long-lost ancestry, aka.. he REALLY had a natural connection with the Maori way of life!
Opening ceremony: welcoming the chiefs aka 1 male representative from each tour bus (3 in total).
We were welcomed into the village, where L wasted no time to volunteer himself to partake in a traditional Maori game…
L (that’s his hand in top left corner) learned a Maori chant: “Hoo! Hoo! Ha! HA!!”
I couldn’t help myself, but to let loose w the Maori warrior…
and did ya’ll know that LENNY KRAVITZ is a Maori????!!!…
The show was super entertaining with traditional story telling, song, dance… Here’s the chief of the tribe as host..(who I thought looked like a turkey)…
Next, feast time and L couldn’t take his eyes off the buffet table..
….and he had good reason to! Look at the spread! It felt like Thanksgiving all over again!
(Yeah, I know.. I’m STILL not done with my NZ posts… )
We eventually made our way up to the west coast of the South Island for some glacier adventure. My partner-in-crime last year, Lisa had visited NZ and boasted of some amazing shots of her glacier hike experience in NZ….so of course, I had to check it out for myself! Though, Lundy and I weren’t blessed with as nice and sunny weather as Lisa’s in her pics, we made the most of our day there. In fact, upon nearing Glacier Country, it started drizzling quite a bit. L & I, being both extremely tired from our previous adventures and drives, found ourselves both secretly hoping that the hike would be cancelled. Me, being me, opted to call the booking office with 15 minutes to spare to a hike call time of 3pm on Tuesday, February 9th 2010.. to check to see if the hike would be cancelled. But, I was almost laughingly corrected by the woman on the other side of the line, “Honey, it rains 300 days of the year in this part of the island, so the hike is still on.” I hung up the phone, relayed the message to L, and after sulking for a half a second, we rallied up our energy for a pretty nifty experience!
After being given jackets, overpants, socks, boots and spikes, we headed out to battle Mother Nature’s rain spittings and magnificent glaciers!
If ya look closely towards the top of the glacier on the right, you’ll see a trail of folks hiking… we would be following suit shortly there after…
Don’t I look like your local meteorologist, fresh on the icy scene??!
Ice Hammock anyone?? Lundy said, “Yes!”
Lundy and his urge to mess with the emergency aid barrel…
I couldn’t resist an ice angel….
On our way down…. some perrty perrty waterfalls…
We sooooo rewarded ourselves with an awesomely hearty home-cooked meal of garlic toast, pesto fettucine, grilled chorizo and lamb chops! Mmmmmmm….
I was soooooo hungry….and ya’ll know, I ain’t got NO shame in my eating game! LOL!
Just got back from a rather quick 5-day trip out to Seoul, South Korea. With not toooo much high expectation for this city… I mean, other than, “it can be a lil’ hazy, but it’ll be cleaner than Shanghai.. Korean BBQ… the drinking… soju” etc… it’s all the typical city highlights of nightlife and skyscraper/tower observatories; Which, by now, especially having lived in TWO of the largest, major cities in the world: the mighty NYC and Shanghai….. cities, for the most part, unimpress me (yup, this “city girl” said it!). Though, what drew me for in for Seoul were: the 38th Parallel and an opportunity to partake in a Buddhist Temple Stay (as recommended by my friend here in the ‘Hai who had visited Seoul a few months back.)
But before I get into that, for one thing, I had been warned by friends etc of it’s notorious, raging”drinking culture,” but I can honestly say it was absolutely disgusting to see it firsthand. I mean it’s one thing as the locals carry on as it is a “cultural” thing… as do Japanese get pretty wild when alcohol is present, but then to see expats over-indulge in alcohol consumption is just plain ol’ sick to stomach. Not to say this is the truth for all expats, but a good majority for sure… as since the famed potent soju is sooooo cheap!
Next, tt has always fascinated me to find rhymes and reasons for why expats seek and find new lands as their new exotic land-homes. Some come for work; others come for play; most come for a whole new experience that may encompass both work and play. Here in Shanghai, I’ve met a great deal of folks from Europe, North America, Down Under, South East Asia etc… in all sorts of varying industires, but what I had learned/been told of the expat scene in Seoul, was that the majority hailed from North America: Canada & U.S. Hmph. First thought: not much variation. Second thought: thankful for living in a rising “international” city as Shanghai.
Some city sights, sounds and tastes:
Super cool guide Pil’s from the back with his Univ. of Michigan hat…. (thanks for the connect sharebear!!)
Pils’ buddy, Dennis and I, cheers on a fries and ketchup covered corndog in the name of Sharebear! This one was for you! ) (ps. this was my first time having a corndog in my life.. it was eh aight.)
Now enough about the city-analysis, what I really came for were the cultural/historics.
First stop, 38th Parallel.
After a bit of research, I found that the “DMZ,” standing for “De-Militarized Zone,” has all sorts of options in terms of tours, enough to make anyone dizzy! There’s the Dora Observatory Deck (stand on top of a deck and see N. Korea from afar) and 3rd Infiltration Tunnel (discovered in ‘78 of the North digging a (not so) secret passage to the South) … then there’s JSA (Joint Security Area; a highly secured area, heavily guarded by soldiers where important global meetings take place) and Panmunjeom (small village that straddles the line separating N and S, where tourists are always escorted by military representatives). So of course, I signed myself up for the “real deal, get me IN the area that is most INTENSE of them all” tour…… the latter two: JSA & Panmunjeom.
As we were pulling up to the line that divides the N. and S., I flashbacked to all the varying militiary museums, memorials and sights I had visited in the past two years: Tiannamen Square, Nanjing War Museum, Cu Chi Tunnels, Vietnam War Museum etc >> all of which have left a profound historica-whoa effect upon me. Now, to inch upon an area that is a MODERN DAY war zone, left me feeling the most uptight-intense-on the border of danger- feeling I had ever felt. (Yes, I wasn’t even this whoa’ed when I decided to jump out of a plane in New Zealand.) But anyhoots, driving up towards our final destination, we were met by military outposts along the highway with the N. Side within our distant point of view:
We first arrived in Imjingak – an area to comfort the 10million S. Korean people separated from their families in the North. It is here where the “Wishing Wall” is placed for S. Koreans to bid prayers and well wishes for their loved ones in the North. Personally, I felt an extreme cloud of sadness for those families split; civil wars are so unfortunate.
The Freedom Bridge: The only bridge crossing the Imjin River, and also the only one bridge connected between S. and N. Korea.; approximately 13,000 war captives crossed this bridge cried celebratory hurrahs for freedom. As since the old one was destroyed, a new, commemorative “Freedom Bridge” was bult just parallel to the old… with one of the last, old trains preserved for viewing:
Here you can see the new bridge on the left and original, destroyed bridge on the right:
What I found most interesting was that alongside all of these historic and modern day artifacts as detailed above, there also laid an amusement for children; reason being: as whole families pay their respects to their loved ones at the Wishing Wall etc, the kids are dropped off to play as since they would get bored/not fully understand the civil divide.
Next up comes the nitty gritty as we enter the JSA: Camp Bonifas.
Before our tour bus could enter these secured grounds, a S. Korean soldier came aboard our bus, thoroughly checked our passports and to see that we had followed the very strict dresscode of simpicity: sneakers, no torn jeans/pants, plain tshirts/jackets etc. This soldier spoke at least 3 languages fluently: Korean, Mandarin and English.
Next, we were led to Ballinger Hall, where we were given a slideshow presentation of war facts, etc.
We were each asked to sign an agreement form to follow all rules and regulations of the tour, as well as were given a badge to wear for security reasons:
We passed by the “World’s Dangerous Golf Course,” where it is said that S. Korean soldiers would tee-off into the N. lands..
Alas, we are dropped off at the Conference Room area, where we were instructed to form two straight lines, walking with our arms down and to be sure NOT to point and raise arms to gesture, as since this may lead the N. Korean soldiers who are observing us from afar “on enemy lines,” to believe one of us may be waving a gun, be armed etc. HOW FREAKIN’ INTENSE, DANGEROUS AND SOMEHOW “COOL” IS THAT???!! (Cool, in the most absurd way of course.) So we entered into THE conference room where nations’ leaders gather for discussions.
This is the shot of us entering. You’ll see a soldier on the left and a soldier ahead; both are on the S. team for our protection. It is said that the N. side also has their fair share of “tours” as well, and when it is their turn, the S. soldiers exit and the N. soldiers take their place.
As we walk inwards, closer to the main conference table guarded by the soldier on the left, we were told to take note of the 3-table mics laid across the conference table, dividing the table at 38th parallel!!!!
So here I am posing with the solider on the left… (couldn’t get too too close though!) But, take note of his fists! All soldiers have this stance, “to be ready to battle,” with the shades on to avoid “stare-down” battles with N. side.
I then crossed over the mic/conference table line, into N. Korea to snap a flick with our other guard:
On the real, we all almost forgot that these dudes were real!… they stood sooo still, as if we were in Maddame Tussaud’s Wax Museum!
And now we’re face to face with the North. A bit hard to see in the flick, but there’s a N. Korean soldier on the top of the steps, on the left watching us with binoculars. You’ll also notice that the S. side guards on facing the N. with only half of their bodies shown to the N. — in order to be a harder target to hit if there was an open fire…. I’ll say it again.. INtense!!!
As we drove off, we saw short, white poles, put up by the N. side to divide both sides:
Next, lead to the famed location of the “Axe Murder Incident of 1976″ where 2 U.N. Army lieutenants were axed to death for the trimming of a Poplar tree.
Nearby, is the original “Bridge of No Return,” where Korean prisoners of war were instructed to choose a side to live the rest of the lives in: North or South. After which, they were not allowed to ever cross the borders again.
As we left, we were all reminded of an important message:
After that intense day, I opted for a 2-day, 1-night stay at a Buddhist temple located approximately 2hour drive outside of Seoul city, in an area called Poncheon. I was met by a local who had at once spent some time in NYC, but now currently living in S. Korea, looking to make a change in his life, and studying to perhaps become a monk one day. This cool dude, June, became my buddy, translator and guide for my entire stay. Awesomely located outside of the city, on a mountain with a beautiful lake on the bottom of the mountain is Temple Jah In Sah.
Meet June:
Find me!
Here is a lil’ snippet of their vegetable garden.
A view from the top of the temple….. sooooooooo serene! ps. the lantern decorations were in anticipation for Buddha’s birthday on May 21st.
As a student to become a monk, June had sketched out this beautiful prayer in temple-form:
All meals were held in this room where an buffet-style table was set up of various vegetarian dishes: rice, picked veggies, beans, tofu, seaweed and vegetable soup were served. I was warned by June that I would have to finish everything on my plate, so be mindful of how much I take because nothing should go to waste; all foods had been gifted to the temple.
Upon meeting me, June’s master monk gifted me with a Buddha bracelet, took my pulse and warned me of knee problems as I would get older. I was impressed with his diagnostic from simply checking out my pulse because I have been having knee issues since my ski injury/ACL surgery in 2001. To help it a bit, June fixed up this concoction using some sort’ve sweet green tea leaves to “burn” me.. in a sense of extracting “cold air” from my knee:
My living quarters in all its simplicity:
Bathroom to the right, bedrooom straight ahead. One awesome thing about Korea is HEATED FLOORS!! Soooooooo wonderful and it makes sooooooooo much sense, since heat rises!!!
Morning wake up time at the sound of chimes and gongs was 4am for morning prayer/108 bows:
Here is a 64 year old blind monk teaching June and another student the correct way to chant:
Breakfast isn’t all too much different but with slight variances. Surprisingly these vegetarian meals filled me up pretty quick, but! left me hungry in 2 hours!
Thanks to June, I got my request to spend time with the elder, blind monk and was invited to his room, where he offered me some tea, gave me a temple name and steered me in a direction to reach my own state of zen. I was so humbled to be in such presence!
Shortly thereafter, June and I hiked up a trail behind the temple to a spot where he and his master monk frequents to meditate. I felt priviledged to be led to such destination of tranquility. Though, I was told, back in the day, this very site used to be an army base; hence, rubber tires still lay. Crazy right??!! I was on real war grounds!
J’s master monk shaved his head and left a bit left ….until J earns his ranks to becoming a full monk.
This was our view while meditating, looking out:
Heading back, June gave me a little history lesson on the temple etc, and pointed out the name that I was given by the elder monk, was the name of the temple: meaning, “love”….
In the late afternoon, as it was time for J and I to catch the bus back to Seoul, I was extremely touched by the elder monk’s gesture of coming down from his room by himself, waiting to bid adieu to me with his umbrella under the drizzling rain. I respectfully went to him, held his hands, thanked him in Korean and bidded him a farewell…. and in his very limited English, he replied, “Bye Bye. Come back to meeeee.”
Later, as soon as we arrived in Seoul city, J’s master monk (who looks after a temple in the city as well) phone J to advise him to head to a restaurant for a BBQ Pork dinner. HOW RAD IS THAT??!!! So there I was! .. Invited to a bbq pork dinner with a really cool monk! (I learned that in Korean Buddhism, monks can in fact eat meat, so long as they are not out there killing for a meal. shrug.) But the meal was SOOOOOOO YUMMY!!
After the meal, we all convened in the temple in the city, where I was eventually given time to chat with the master monk as well. He gifted me with a few items including two pairs of socks and a mirror with a drawing of Buddha on the back with words in Korean, “Who Am I?” I had some insightful time with him…, where at one point, he touched my head and told me that I have a nice round head that would look good if shaved. (hmmmm recruitment?!?!) Then, he cracked my neck all randomly and had relieved some stiffness that I had had. Ahhh! Felt great! Until next time, master monk, when we meet again spiritually….
With borders of Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan,Pakistan and India, Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the PRC. “Xinjiang” literally means “New Frontier”, a name given during the Qing Dynasty, and is home to a number of different ethnic groups and major ethnic group include Uyghur, Han, Kazakh, Hui, Kyrgyz and Mongol. (Some of you may recall the recent “drama” btw the Uyghur and Han….. umm yeah.)
So anyway, what called for this gathering of friends, seemingly resembling the UN, was the arrival of Kym’s sister, Alicia (Chi’town & NY reppin!) So without further a’do….here we are under the umbrella of friendship and feastin!….
There’s always the same dude working up the slammin’ lamb and chicken kebob grill just to the right of the restaurant’s entrance. Mind you, this place is always BUSY BUSY BUSY every night of the week; 80% of the time, you’d see belly dancers or someone celebrating some festive occasion up in here! Andddd it’s a great place for large groups! I’ve gone with a good group of 8-10 folks, ordering 10-12 dishes + Xinjiang beer, and the bill would only come out to approx. $8usd per person!
Sisters, Kym & Alicia in Shanghai!
Alan (another ABC who has moved to the ‘Hai last year), handles the important task of ordering…
Is it me or does Kym look like she’s a little too excited to receive her bowl of white rice?
Zia = FOCUSED, mannnnnn!
Damnnnnnn Alicia!!!!
NY to SH Express….
Andddddd Alicia just HAD to take a picture of this random dude who sat at a table next to ours. Thankfully, he spoke English (from SF) and had a great sense of humor to allow for Alicia to snap a photo of him in his Google shirt… in China…The Irony. Get it???!!
This announcement is long overdue! But hey! As they say…. better a tad late, than never!
Just about the same time I had initially packed my bags and did the whole “Peace Out, NY and America!” thang back in ‘08, my bro and his girl had been whisking around the idea of combining their culinary and business fortes to jumpstart a catering business. Amazingly and not so surprisingly enough, the Minneapolis-based biz, Cocoa & Fig has done tremendously and tastefully well (as ya’ll have been able to follow with a few choice posts I’ve shared in the past: ahem, my favorite is still the flip flop cake!!) and well……. drumm roll…….
Cocoa & Fig has expanded their business to include a line of retail space – opened this past February! YAY! HOOOOORAY!! WHOO HOOOO!!
Now, along with placing catering orders for special events, you can visit and purchase their delicious and high-design treats and pastries at their retail shop, located in the swanky, upscale shopping center, Gaviidae Common in Downtown Minneapolis – anchored by Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.
Store Hours:
Monday – Friday: 8 am to 6 pm
Saturday: 10 am to 5 pm
Sunday: closed
I mean look at them in action…and we can also play a game of “Where’s My Bro?” in this pic..heehhehe:
For more of their most up-to-date mouth-watering creations and awards, check out their blog here. Here’s a mini-taste of their latest big winner: Chocolate Valrhona Cupcake:
Scrolling through the pics make me salivate every frickin’ time! Enjoy!…and kudos J&L!! SFC! SFC! SFC!
It’s been a while since I’ve put up a real blabber blog on life and times in the ‘Hai. As a matter of fact, I’d go as far as saying that I probably have done so, less than a handful of times this sophomore year in the shangheez… much the opposite from my freshman year when every little turn I made was accounted for, captured on and shared with ya’ll thanks to my canon. There’s no real one, particular reason for my less frequent recaps, but prolly just a combination of reasons – that comes along with a bit of complacency in a city that is no longer as shiny and new as it once was… when routine kicks in a tad, quiet personal growth time and just a tad bit more lazy. ha.
In any case, I just got in from a wonderful dining experience at prolly my new favorite restaurant in town, called Lost Heaven. First, it had been a while since I’d been around the famed riverfront, Bund Area (last time was last year…and construction had started)….. I was pleasantly surprised with how revved up The Bund had become and awesome porter (spoke English) that met me about 25 meters to bring me to the restaurant…. Walking in, upon open space and big smiles from staff… conjured up a warm, calming excitement within me. I had wanted to check this restaurant for a while (namely a couple weeks ago when I was invited by some friends, but then got hit with food poisoning. ugh) So, I was more than thrilled to be able to redeem myself this time around with some friends, Wan Hing (ABC) and Mike (Scottish). Once we all checked in, we were led upstairs to the fabulously decorated restaurant and were met by some real on-point staff… and service was fast! For the ambience, decor, location, (alotta foreigners up in there), decent pricing and slammin’ Yunan region tastes…. Lost Heaven got major thumbs up all around our table! Owners also are responsible for a couple other spots in town: romantic Coconut Paradise for some Thai food as well as the original Lost Heaven closer to the center of the city. I’ll have to check the original location to complete it all…..and most likely return to the Bund location with my camera to share with ya’ll! Plus! Weather will be nicer and I’ll snap some flicks of the recently opened, new 2,000 meter promenade.
Coming home in a taxi, zooming through the newly paved streets around The Bund and down the expressways that give highlight to the truly awesome urban sprawl of Shanghai Lights at Night….. I ALWAYS, WITHOUT FAIL, find myself in great awe of this giant of a city…each and every time I zoom thru in a cab. I love cab rides at night. To me, the city comes alive at this time. (Not that it’s completely dead in the day… night time just stirs up a totally different vibe… as does with most big metropolises.) It never ceases to amaze me of how international, urban and modern this place is at times…. especially when fine lines of the rich and poor are found when frolicking the streets and at each corner turn. Plus, on the day to day, for the most part, I’m surrounded by “local life,” and it’s not until I’m outta work-mode where I venture into areas of well, more affluence. I say all this because it’s been 2 years for me here…..and wow, I’ve seen alotta changes. No, I’m not trying to sell ya’ll on this city … but it’s truth. This city REALLY is in its emergent stages and I know that one day in the future, I’ll be looking back at my ‘Hai times with some real “high,” fond, memories. (I’ll admit, on certain days, it’s hard to believe this…but that goes with the ups and downs of living…. well just about any place in the world.. including any place in the States. I’ve said this before: I know I had my fair share within my decade in “the greatest city in the world, NYC.”)
I mean, shoot. Last week, a good bud from last year, Ralph (ya’ll may remember) came back for a quick visit and we reminisced greatly on all the damn good, crazy times we shared in tackling this beast of a city…from our initial days being majorly lost in translation, culture shock and establishing our crew with Eugene, Max and Cubes and our very awesomely memorable Summer ‘08 together,….. to how much we had learned and developed by the end of our one year together. Trust, we learned lessons that no professor or lecturer (I don’t care how many degrees/credentials he/she holds) could teach; Giving light to: “Experience is the Best Teacher!”
Back in the States now, R listed all the things he had missed of the ‘Hai…. the little things that you would see out here that you wouldn’t see ever in the U.S., ie. a man hauling a washing machine on the back of his bike, crossing a 10 lane crossroad during evening rush hour, ha! Having R back in town was refreshing in ways that allowed me to really stop and appreciate the idiosyncrasies of living out in the Wild Far East.
Tonight, I raise my glass to all of my high times in the ‘Hai to date…Lost Heaven included! (and I’ll try to carry my camera more often..)
Weather has been shotty here. One day = thumbs up, another day = thumbs down….and unfortunately, my mood is heavily influenced by these patters in the air. But……. there’s one thing that can certainly flip my mood switch from down to up and that’s care packages in the mail!
This one’s the latest from my great maca of a friend, Ana in the City of Angels! It came midday …and it came as a total surprise! Back at the top of ‘07 when my infamous “Emancipation of Mimi Tour” got its kick start, I was welcomed by Ana and her mom in their LA home…. where Mama V spoiled my tummy with 3 pots full of Mexican food staple, tamales: chicken, beef, vegetables respectively….. with a cup of hot chocolate on the side. But let me tell you, this was no regular hot chocolate! It was awesomely rich with a cinnamon spice!! SOOOO GOOOOD and ADDICTING! Up until a few days ago, I had wondered what this “special hot cocoa mix” was…. until at last, Ana surprised me with a jiffy package filled with Abuelita Hot Cocoa Mix!
About Abuelita:
Abuelita is a brand of chocolate tablets, or powdered mix in individual packets, made by Nestlé and used to make Mexican-style hot chocolate. The name is an affectionate Spanish word for “grandma” (literally translated as “granny”).
The chocolate usually comes in hexagonal tablets that can be split into equal wedges, and then melted into milk. The drink can also be mixed with spirits such as Kahlúa. The chocolate is made of sugar, cocoa and cinnamon. Abuelita has been a stapleMexican product for more than 60 years, and can be identified by its unique taste and packaging.
I highly recommend!!!! I’d love to chit chat some more… but I really gotta make a store-run for some milk and start whisking for this one! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!! Thank you Maca!!
I’ll cut to the point.. some of my most favoritist of favorites flicks right here! As we drove from Te Anau to Milford Sounds, we hit the magnificently beautiful Mirror Lakes along the way…
I miss our campervan SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!! Chooo! Chooo!
But I can’t take credit for the driving, I was more like Miss Daisy… and my driver:
Entrees of Hare and Venison each respectively laying on beds of various vegetables and variants of potatoes…. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO DIVINELY DELICIOUS!!!
) (ps. this was my first time having a corndog in my life.. it was eh aight.)
