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| photo credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mirihi_aerial_view.jpg |
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Guess where we're going...
Hooray! Headed to the Maldives for a week or so...
The island is only 0.3km by 0.05km (0.2 miles by 0.03 miles). And, at peak season (which it's not), there are only 210 people on the island. Just to put that in perspective, there are more than 210 people in our building!
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Dragon Boat Racing
Last week we had a few days off to celebrate Dragon Boat Festival, known in China as Duanwu Festival.
According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Boat_Festival), Dragon Boat Festival falls on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month...this year it fell on June 12th. The festival occurs when the sun is considered to be at its strongest around the time of summer solstice when the daylight in the northern hemisphere is the longest. The sun, like the Chinese dragon traditionally represents masculine energy, whereas the moon, like the phoenix, traditionally represents feminine energy. The masculine image of the dragon is thus naturally associated with Duanwu. The focus of the celebrations includes eating rice dumplings zongzi, drinking realgar wine xionghuangjiu, and racing dragon boats.
So, we headed to Qingpu with some footy friends and their UN-like building (seriously, there were a couple of American couples, a Brazilian couple, a German couple, a Canadian couple, and some Chinese).
The place we went to race was about an hour on a bus west out of the city.
We went into the day the only way we know how to go to sporting events...ready to tailgate!
We drank, we ate, we raced dragon boats...what a better way to spend a Wednesday!
And, afterwards, we went to our favorite dumpling house - not the traditional zongzi, but dumplings nonetheless!
According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Boat_Festival), Dragon Boat Festival falls on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month...this year it fell on June 12th. The festival occurs when the sun is considered to be at its strongest around the time of summer solstice when the daylight in the northern hemisphere is the longest. The sun, like the Chinese dragon traditionally represents masculine energy, whereas the moon, like the phoenix, traditionally represents feminine energy. The masculine image of the dragon is thus naturally associated with Duanwu. The focus of the celebrations includes eating rice dumplings zongzi, drinking realgar wine xionghuangjiu, and racing dragon boats.
So, we headed to Qingpu with some footy friends and their UN-like building (seriously, there were a couple of American couples, a Brazilian couple, a German couple, a Canadian couple, and some Chinese).
The place we went to race was about an hour on a bus west out of the city.
We went into the day the only way we know how to go to sporting events...ready to tailgate!
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| Tailgating American-style...they sell PBR at the local Chinese grocery! |
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| The manmade water lane that we were racing in....some less than clean water... |
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| Viewing Stadium. |
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| Our UN delegates! Our boat name was "Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies" |
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| Pre-race...I don't know why we're wearing headbands... everyone was. |
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| Literally, dragon boats! |
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| Our boat. |
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| This is NOT us winning...it's someone else. I think we came in 6th out of 7 boats. |
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| Erin getting us a post-race bevo. |
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| Kris representing us in a beer drinking competition. He lost by a hair... we're still reviewing the tape, as we're pretty sure he won. |
And, afterwards, we went to our favorite dumpling house - not the traditional zongzi, but dumplings nonetheless!
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| Our favorite dumpling house - not a pic from this trip, but one of the many we've made! |
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| mmmmm....dumplings.... |
Friday, June 28, 2013
Hongkers Randoms
Apparently people call Hong Kong "Hongkers"...Jeff hates it. So, I say it. :)
Here are some random photos for your enjoyment/amazement. Your choice.
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| The sign says, "Poisonous Plant". Apparently they have to be labeled so no one pulls off the leaves and eats them. |
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| What you can eat, for approximately $4USD is shredded squid. The smell not so good. |
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| There are MANY nanny's in Hong Kong, and all of them have Sundays off...so, they congregate in all of the in common areas (in the shade). They put up these cardboard boxes as a way to not sit on the ground and to section off their space. They have food, games, and lots of gossip! |
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| The world's longest escalator is in Hong Kong. Each morning it heads down the hill, and around 10am, it heads up the hill until the wee hours of the morning. |
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| Jeff was not happy about the "World's Longest Escalator" moniker, as it's not continuous. You have to cross streets and other areas so you can enter and exit. Notice my poor posture in this picture. |
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| There's a free zoo in Hong Kong, and we wandered around for a bit. I like the monkeys. |
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| Traditional Chinese Medicine store...lots of dried fish, herbs, spices, and bird nest. |
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| And dried, spread-eagle lizards on a stick. |
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Victoria's Peak
When we were in Hong Kong, we went to the top of Hong Kong to Victoria's Peak.
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| Don't worry, we were only confused for a bit. |
The Peak Tram has been in operation for 120 years, taking people to the top of Hong Kong Island. As I said previously, Hong Kong is steep, so it is quite a climb for the tram...
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| Incoming tram...we're headed down the mountain. |
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| Been traversing the mountain with Hong Kongers for 120 years. |
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| Trams apparently work with gears. |
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| View of Hong Kong and Kowloon from Victoria's Peak. |
Monday, June 24, 2013
Duck, Duck, Goose.
When we were in Hong Kong, so was THE DUCK. The duck that is an art installation in Victoria Harbor by Dutch artist, Florentij Hofman.
The Rubber Duck has traveled to 13 different cities since 2007. It is 16.5 meters tall!
And it caused quite the crowds...literally there were CROWDS of people, at least 20 deep.
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| Can you see the duck? I'm pointing at it. |
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| Can you see us in the mirror on the Star Ferry? |
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| See that, he's big! |
And it caused quite the crowds...literally there were CROWDS of people, at least 20 deep.
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| Throngs of people - looking down on the duck from above. |
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| Crowds 20 deep looking at the duck. |
We saw the Rubber Duck on the last weekend that the installation was in Hong Kong. And, on Monday it looked a little like this:
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| I think those people are looking for the Rubber Duck. |
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| The exact spot in the harbor where the Rubber Duck once floated. |
If you're interested in seeing the Rubber Duck, he's headed to Pittsburgh on his next swim.
Saturday, June 22, 2013
4Hs - Hot, Humid, Hilly, Hong Kong
A few weeks ago, we ventured to Hong Kong for the weekend. Hong Kong is a great city and completely different than Shanghai.
Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of China. It was a British colony until 1997, at which point it went back to China under a "one country, two systems" type policy, meaning that it has a different political system than mainland China. It is about 430 square miles and has a population of 7 million people, making it one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Oddly enough, even though Shanghai's population is between 4 - 6 times the population of Hong Kong, it felt VERY crowded.
In addition, Hong Kong is a vertical city - with all of those people and little land, everything goes up - add to the fact that its a mountainous island, and EVERYTHING goes up.
Since Hong Kong is only a little over a 2-hour flight, we knew we'd be there a couple of times, so we set out to explore the different parts of the city. Later in the year...when it is a bit cooler, we'll head back to do some hikes and exploring.
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| Looking to Hong Kong Island. |
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| The Clock Tower on Kowloon Island. |
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| Looking to Hong Kong Island during the evening light show. |
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| Hong Kong Island. |
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| Kowloon Island. |
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| Hong Kong Island. |
In addition, Hong Kong is a vertical city - with all of those people and little land, everything goes up - add to the fact that its a mountainous island, and EVERYTHING goes up.
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| Hill in the back of a building at Victoria's Peak. |
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| With high humidity and rainforest like conditions, the paved walkways are slippery. And, you know my balance isn't so great... |
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| In concrete jungles, you gotta do what you gotta do with doggie doo. |
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| Hills, hills, and more hills...these stairs/ladders are for 'slope maintenance.' |
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| Jeff hoofing it up one of the many hills. |
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| If you'll notice, it is 7am and 'feels like' 97 degrees. It. Was. Awesome. |
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| Hong Kong is a funny city. "Please mind your head!! If you're a full grown pygmy!" |
Friday, June 21, 2013
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Stitching Together a Podium Finish
Last weekend was our SHAFL grand final. SHAFL is the Shanghai Tigers broken up into teams competing against each other. The Crows had already secured a spot in the SHAFL final, but we (the Dockers) and the Eagles had to play it out to see who would take them on for the SHAFL trophy. We played a solid first half in a tightly contested game managing to take a 7 point lead into the break. Unfortunately I can't tell you much about the second half other than we came up 2 points short in the final tally. The Eagles when on to beat the Crows in the final, and we netted ourselves a third place finish. That gets you on the podium ... even if there are only three teams.
So shortly into the second half, I wrapped up an Eagle around the waist for a pretty textbook tackle if I do say so myself. Getting up from the tackle, I noticed a non-clear liquid flowing from my head. I didn't feel a thing through the tackle, but when I put my hand to my head above my eye, there was a noticeable gash and a lot of blood. With my sub not able to hear me, and the ball coming back into the defensive end, I tried to play on until a teammate caught a glimpse and said "ahhhh, you gotta get off the field!".
Turns out I had a very short, but quite deep gash in my forehead. With Laura still tossing a few bubbles back at a nearby bar, a friend helped clean, bandage, and then wrap my head in gauze and tape rugby style to keep pressure on it. Unsure myself if Laura was in fact at the bar, or had been dropped off in Qingpu by the cab driver, I gave her a call and she answered with "Are you in the hospital?". The only other time somebody had called her while I was participating in a sporting event, she ended up meeting me in the emergency room prior to surgery to screw together my broken leg and ankle. I hesitated prompting a "What happened?" in a tone that cut deeper than the wound in my head. (definitely getting the look from her when she reads that line)
We ended up going to an expat hospital and it's probably a good thing we did. The doctor didn't hesitate in his evaluation, I got stitches in my head. In China. The Chinese doctor said "Leave bandage off at night in two days, always leave on during the day. We're in China."
I have a reputation for not always maintaining a colorful complexion, or state of consciousness when needles and knives are involved in the puncturing of my flesh. If I don't know what happens, no worries. But there's something about combining the grotesque visuals generated in my warped mind when I lay eyes on the implements of skin penetration and the nervous energy generated by knowing what's coming that has occasionally left me in a state where I wake up with people looking down on me while holding my legs in the air. I have taken my fair share of ribbing over this. So it is with some pleasure, once I knew she was fine of course, that I relay to you what occurred approximately ten seconds after the doctor finished my stitches. I sat up from the table to see Laura white as a ghost, perspiring like crazy, and putting her head down between her legs. The doctor immediately order us to "switch! switch! switch!". I quickly worked to assess my ability to stand after having a needle repeatedly shoved in and out of my head and we successfully made the switch. It was a good thing, I'm pretty sure she was going down.
So shortly into the second half, I wrapped up an Eagle around the waist for a pretty textbook tackle if I do say so myself. Getting up from the tackle, I noticed a non-clear liquid flowing from my head. I didn't feel a thing through the tackle, but when I put my hand to my head above my eye, there was a noticeable gash and a lot of blood. With my sub not able to hear me, and the ball coming back into the defensive end, I tried to play on until a teammate caught a glimpse and said "ahhhh, you gotta get off the field!".
Turns out I had a very short, but quite deep gash in my forehead. With Laura still tossing a few bubbles back at a nearby bar, a friend helped clean, bandage, and then wrap my head in gauze and tape rugby style to keep pressure on it. Unsure myself if Laura was in fact at the bar, or had been dropped off in Qingpu by the cab driver, I gave her a call and she answered with "Are you in the hospital?". The only other time somebody had called her while I was participating in a sporting event, she ended up meeting me in the emergency room prior to surgery to screw together my broken leg and ankle. I hesitated prompting a "What happened?" in a tone that cut deeper than the wound in my head. (definitely getting the look from her when she reads that line)
We ended up going to an expat hospital and it's probably a good thing we did. The doctor didn't hesitate in his evaluation, I got stitches in my head. In China. The Chinese doctor said "Leave bandage off at night in two days, always leave on during the day. We're in China."
I have a reputation for not always maintaining a colorful complexion, or state of consciousness when needles and knives are involved in the puncturing of my flesh. If I don't know what happens, no worries. But there's something about combining the grotesque visuals generated in my warped mind when I lay eyes on the implements of skin penetration and the nervous energy generated by knowing what's coming that has occasionally left me in a state where I wake up with people looking down on me while holding my legs in the air. I have taken my fair share of ribbing over this. So it is with some pleasure, once I knew she was fine of course, that I relay to you what occurred approximately ten seconds after the doctor finished my stitches. I sat up from the table to see Laura white as a ghost, perspiring like crazy, and putting her head down between her legs. The doctor immediately order us to "switch! switch! switch!". I quickly worked to assess my ability to stand after having a needle repeatedly shoved in and out of my head and we successfully made the switch. It was a good thing, I'm pretty sure she was going down.
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| Everybody thought the wrap was way cooler looking than the little band-aid I ended up with after stitches. |
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