Trip # 1 Part 2

I've been extremly busy lately that I haven't really had time to finish the rest of my trip but if I don't do it now....I will never find time to....so here I go.

Let's see where I've left off.....

Ok....anyways....LeShan was pretty kool with the Big O Buddha and all but it was really tiring caz of the whole claming up and down....by the time we got back up to the top....I was exausted!!! The first thing I did was that I went and bought me a good old fasion COKE! Anywayz...we found our tour guide and he instructed us to this little hidden place where they have these very special tea.(very expansive too)

Here is a pic of my Coke next to our teas.

Tea is very popular in China and especially around here. There are soooo many different kind of tea and who knows how many ways of making it. One of the most popular activity here is drink tea. People actually gather and share the taste of the tea and they do this as an enjoyment and for relaxation. These teas are nothing like the ones you've tasted in the US chinese restaurants. It tastes so much better and you will find it quite unique if you learn to like it.

Here is a pic of my cup of tea!

After our tea time, we headed over to our hotel....which was ok for the price that we paid for....I can pretty much sleep anywhere so it wasn't a big deal to me. We settled in very quickly and headed out for dinner. Food was once again....ok....for the price we paid for....lol....n e wayz we ate pretty fast caz we didn't want to miss the show.

This show is called "The Sound of Emei" which consisted a serious of tricks, martial arts, hand shadow, puppets, and a very famous trick called "Face Off". I recorded this on video and if you have time, hit me and and I'll show it to you. Overall it was a really good show, I really enjoyed it and had an embarrasing but yet interesting moment

Here are some pics I took from the show but it doesn't even show half of what was in the show because there was just so many different performance....so I have most of it on video.

Ok....I'm going to have to call it a day for now....I still have another part to this trip that I'd like to share.... but I've been working for the past 24 hours in the last 28 hours.....and I can hardly keep my eyes opened....see yall later when I feel better....

Trip # 1 Part 1

I finally got a chance to go out to visit some of China's famous locations. This past weekend was fun! I got to visit the LeShan Grand Buddha and Mt. Emei!

My friend Teresa and I decided to go on a tour to this famous mountain (which I don't know the name in English) but ended up changing the plan due to the storm I've mentioned in the previous post. After checking with the traveling agency, they suggested that we go on a 2 days, 1 night trip to Mt. LeShan and Mt. Emei.

The trip cost us $280RMB but we both got our own hotel room (No, we did not share a room), it was $60RMB extra....so it was $340RMB total (around $45USD). The cost included all the meals, hotel, and transportation. It's pretty cheap if you ask me.... However, we do have to pay for the extra cost such as this show we saw and a cable car we took to go up Mt. Emei

On Sat. morning, I got up, showered, got dressed, packaged, then head off to Teresa's hotel about 10 mins away in a taxi. We ate breakfast at the hotel then waited for the bus to come pick us up. Around 9:30AM, the bus finally picked up everyone and ready to head off to Mt. LeShan.

It took about 1 hour and 30mins to get there and we stopped by a local restaurant for lunch. After lunch, we drove for another 10-15 mins or so to the LeShan Grand Buddha.

After a 20min hike, we arrived to Lingyun Temple. It's a buddhist temple right by the Grand Buddha. In China, although most of the population are atheist, some people still went and prayed to these Idols "Just because". They believe that maybe these Idols can bring them good luck and protections...but doesn't really believe in the religion itself.

After visiting the temple, we headed off to see the Grand Buddha....

The LeShan Grand Buddha is the tallest stone Buddha statue in the world. Standing 71 meters tall, the statue depicts a seated Maitreya Buddha with his hands resting on his knees. His shoulders are 28 metres wide and his smallest toenail is large enough to easily accommodate a seated person. The construction was started in 713 AD and took 90 years to complete.

It took us about an hour to go from the top of the cliff to the bottom....

Here's a pic from we took at the top....

Half way down....

A view at the bottom from half way down....



A pic from the bottom.....

Here's half of the stairs we took to get to the bottom...



Before we started to head back up..... I saw this on the wall....REPRESENT!

ps. I did not do this if that's what you're wondering.....

Lesson 101: Never take a Taxi in China....

A few nights ago, there was a mad storm......and the wind was blowing so hard that I could hardly stood on my feet.....

In the moring when I left work....I saw a pretty fun sight and decided to take a picture of it....

As you all know....Chinese people drive pretty crazy.....but wait until you come and see their Taxi in action. They might not be the best at following traffic laws....but they sure can get you anywhere you want to go. Even here.....

Time Difference....

Here is a pic that I took in our China Office. It shows the different time in China and US so they can know the time when replying email or chatting with the customers.

In case if you don't know.... China is 15 hours ahead of US, and here is a secret quick short cut formula to figure out what time it is in China...

US Time + 3 hours and flip the AM-PM = China time

For example:
7:00 AM US time + 3 Hours and flip the AM to PM = 10PM in China.

However, since China is 15 hours ahead of US....to figure out the date....you usually just count a day ahead. So 7:00 PM US Time on Monday is actually 10:00 AM China Time on Tuesday.

It's funny how if you think about it....China lives in the future! well not much....only 15 hours ahead but it's still cool.....at least I think it is.....

My wonderful co-workers...

This week is the "Chinese Labor Week" so the offices here in Chengdu will have a break for the whole week. However, since our US office is still operating some people volunteered to work overtime. Since everyone working overtime will work our day shift, I've been working the day shift with them this whole week.

Yesterday, my co-workers who were here working OT(Over Time) came to my desk all at once to invite me to dinner. It was such a surprise so I was not sure at first but I though it could be a good time to get to know them better...so why not? After work, we all hopped on the bus and to get to the restaurant we had to take 2 buses. Once we're there, we waited for everyone to get there so we can start eating.

What really amazed me is how much these girls can eat.....I think some of them ate twice as much as me and I tell ya...I was really really full!! They kept on eating for like another hour after I was done and they're all like 1/2 of my size......weight wise.....I envy these people....they can eat all they want and not gain a pound....

Anyways.....I had lot's of fun that night so it was all good.....

Here is a pic we took after the feast!

From the left: Me, Cathy, Maggie, Yolanda, I forgot her name...you can't see her face anyways, Lex's girlfriend and I fogot her name too, Lex, Leonard, Amanda, Jojo, and Helen.

Floor Toilet....

I've always wonder why people here in China are always so skinny but yet they can eat 3 times as much as I can. Their secret is the Floor Toilet! Here in China, their toilet is built into the ground so there is no nasty toilet seats with pee all over it. All you have to do is lower your pants, squat, and do your thing! I guess that position helps pressure all the food that you eat, out of your system so you can feel 10 lbs lighter after you're done. (BTW, those are just my theory of why they're skinny....not actual fact) Once you're done, there is a little foot pedal that you step on to flush it so you don't even have to touch anything with your hands. I actually kinda like it more than the sit down toilets except those times you are really tired and just want to sit down and relax but you can't caz you get tired just squating like that for awhile. Anywayz....I have a sit down toilet at my apt so I get to relax as long as I want!

In Memory of my Poodle and Chihuahua (Chiwawa)...

Today I was doing some grocery shopping from a store down the street from my apartment. After finding everything I needed, I decided to walk the whole store just to see what's in the store. While I was walking by a corner that really didn't seem interesting....I saw something that reminded me of my Poodle and Chihuahua that I've left behind at home....half way around the world....I really miss them....so I decided to take a pic of their favorite brand of food in memories of them.