Run away cabs...lost gardens...German food and China adventures day 2.

So...going to bed at 8pm...means you wake up at 3am....EICK! I was able to go back to sleep until the alarm went off at 7am, thankfully. That's when day two of our epic adventure began. The BUND was first on the list of things to see. The historic bund district is amazing. The buildings are enormous and so old...the architecture is awe inspiring. Just took my breath away. Walking along the river walk...looking at the boats on the river...beautiful skyline across the way and the old historic buildings...it was a perfect way to start the day! This area is considered the original Shanghai....some of the buildings date back a few century's. It's very ying and yang in this area. On one side of the river is old historic buildings, while the other is filled with skyscrapers and the famous radio tower.

 
 Just happened to find a bull in China...wanted to ride him but did not think I would make it 8 seconds without the cops throwing me in China jail.

THE BUND

 

 

Our next stop was breakfast. We both wanted something familiar so when we saw the Golden Arches...we literally heard, "Amy....Sam....come to me." I was nervous to order because of the language barrier, but it became apparent quickly that they have a certain protocol for dealing with foreigners. As soon as the lady saw me walk up....she pulled out a laminated menu with photos for me to point to what I wanted. To be honest...relief set over me, for I no longer feared I would get some strange meal for lack of communication. 

After breakfast, we were supposed to go to the yu yuan gardens...one of the largest gardens in Shanghai and filled with coi ponds and everything you imagine to be beautiful. We found what, on the map said was yu yuan gardens, but was not what we were looking for. The maps are quite confusing...even with months of planning on where to go. But in true Amy and Sam fashion....we just switched gears and made plan B even more epic than plan A. We wandered the streets and vendors of Shanghai. A few things I noticed...they keep the city very clean. There are street cleaners sweeping and mopping (with real mops) the streets and sidewalks 24/7. All the brooms are hand made...I watched a man making them in the park. They are made with a thick branch from a tree and thick shrubs....they tie the shrubs to the branch....and whalaa you have a broom.

 

 
 Watched this man do Tai Chi in  the park

 

Poverty is plenty...and everywhere.

 

After exploring the city streets we hailed a cab to the Peoples Park. We walked past the main government buildings where stationed in front were guards with rifles dressed in green uniforms and hats with thick brims....standing so still that they looked like statues. Next to the government buildings was the opera house....and that's Amy's happy place. The Peoples Park reminded me of what I imagine Central Park in New York to look like. Curved walkways, benches filled with people enjoying the spring weather, kids running on the grass playing ball. The most amazing part of the parks in Shanghai is how well maintained they are, grass perfectly cut, flowers blooming and arranged in amazing designs, hedges cut with not a leaf out of place. The time involved in maintaining the parks must be grand. At the end of the park was a clock tower...just like the one in back to the future...well ok maybe this one was a tad bit cooler than that....considering it had a rooftop bar. Yep...you heard me right...a roof top bar with beautiful views and lounge seating outside. Considering it was only 11am...we did what any other red blooded American would do...ordered a stiff drink and enjoyed the view. Apparently we were the only ones that thought a stiff drink at 11am was a good...no great...idea because we owned that rooftop like a boss.

And they wonder why I got lost in China...

 

This woman was knitting while her husband drove....

Epic clock tower with rooftop bar.

 

This little guy found his twin!

 

We had to check out of our hotel at this point so we hailed another cab....by the way, cabs are so cheap in china. You can get across town for $3...it's a cheap wild ride. This cab driver was interesting. First let me tell you that NO cab drivers speak a lick of English and don't read it either....found this out the hard way when I tried to give him the address for the hotel in English and he just went on a rant in Chinese.....EICK...are we going to make it back to the hotel? Well...after many hand signals and both of us staring at each other with the "deadly blank stare" for what seemed like an hour but was only five minutes we made it to the hotel. We packed up and hailed yet another cab...I guess I am a slow learner! Now that I am thinking of it...some of our funniest moments in China so far have been cab related. This next one beats them all. He pops the trunk...gets out...I throw my bag in and the car starts rolling down the alley with no one in it...yep...you heard me...NO ONE IN IT! The driver ran along side...grabbed the door to stop the car...jumped in and threw the car in gear...but wow what a laugh! I had this whole flash in my head...the car hitting the man and bursting into flames, and I will not be able to wear anything but the clothes on my back for 10 more days. We know I won't find clothes in my size in China.

 Starbucks in China...YIPEEEEEEEEE!!!!
 Off to the Xin Tian Di district. All I can say is freakin awesome. This is an area lined with restaurants from every part of the world...French, German, American, jazz club...everything from around the world...all in one spot...and to top it off...a Starbucks, Hagen Daz, and Coffee Bean. The buildings were all unique and old...beautiful staircases...a lot of it reminded me of New Orleans. We picked the German restaurant for lunch where we ordered brats and a cheeseburger.

 So, all the parks have these exercise machines. People of every age come to the parks here to exercise, play games or just sit and talk. The parks and all the people in it were one of my favorite parts of Shanghai.

 

Next up....no plans...just wandered the streets and parks. No direction, just turned a corner when something looked interesting. Another cool thing about Shanghai...they have a ton of parks and all filled with cool things. A few parks had bright colored exercise equipment...newspapers to read, men swinging small bird cages around and placing them in the trees and tables filled with men playing cards for money. We sat and watched the men playing cards...the games were intense. Seemed like they were not playing for fun...this was about money and status. It was a male dominated game....no woman anywhere around them.

 The older men with the bird cages were intriguing. They were all very proud of these birds in the small cages. All the cages were the same size...same design but all from different men. They had a comradery with each other...strategically placing their bird cages in the groves of trees with the beautiful pink blossoms. They would all talk and point to the best spot to place the cage...it seemed to be a way to show off their birds...much like a dog show in America. The birds were jumping like crazy in the cages...squawking so loud it seemed like you could hear them a mile away. I wondered if they did it for attention because they wanted out of their small cage or because they liked the attention as much as their owners?

 

One more crazy cab ride to the train station...that place was stimulation overload! So loud...screens everywhere...TVs, commercials, information screens....but then I saw it...another Starbucks. Second floor....here I come...and what do you know...a candy store right next door. We were going to be on a train for the next 5 hours...so we needed resources...STAT! Loaded up on junk food and off to our terminal where we met a super cool German dude living and working in China. Had some great convo with him....and off to a bucket list item of mine. Ride the high speed train in China...check!

 The train station is beyond HUGE...and jam packed with people!

 First class seats on the high speed train going over 300km...yes please!

 Now, as I sit on the train, sipping my Starbucks...snacking on Chinese Oreo straws...chocolate wafers and Pringles...listening to the chatter of a group of drunk men in Chinese in one ear and my iPod playing Keith Urban and John Legend tunes in the other ear...I realize how much I love all the experiences I have in life and how it forms and changes me as I grow. Ready for epic adventure day 3....

And the adventure begins.....

13 hours...when you think about what you usually accomplish or what you do in that amount of time, it's a lot. Work a full 8 hour hour work day, go to the gym, maybe even go to the store...go home...cook dinner and relax. 13 hours is a long time. So, I won't lie, I was a little nervous to know that for 13 hours I had to sit on a plane and do nothing! For someone like me....that never slows down...that was a lot to take in. Sure, they show you movies...feed you...give you coffee and tea. I tell you what, after about 8 hours I was getting cabin fever! Plus being a long legged chica helps in most situations...sitting in economy for 13 hours is not one of those times. Also, it was also a strange feeling that it never got dark. It felt like we are on the plane for 2 days...and each time I opened my window, I was anticipating to see the sunset or darkness...but the bright light always shone through....strange feeling for sure!

But good news, we are now in China! Flying over was beautiful...the mountain peaks still blanketed with snow...tons of windy roads...and everything is green! The windy roads remind me of that paper game you play as kids, where the maze has 3 options to go through but you have to pick the one that goes to the finish line....that's how the roads look from above. Seems like a really easy way to get lost. Lol. 

We landed and were so happy to be on solid ground that Amy and I literally danced up the tarmac. In China they have several areas you need to pass through before you are ready to explore. First, inspection if you have the flu...then immigration....then your bags....then customs. Everything went off without a hitch. I got my China stamp in my passport (can I hear a whoot whoot) and we were ready. Originally we planned to take the malev train and subway to our hotel...but after almost 24 hours of no sleep our brains were mush...so when the man in the white coat came running along side us wanting to sell us a car service to the hotel....it did not matter the cost...we were doing it. I imagine there's a whole group of those men...standing on the sidelines....looking for the most exhausted individuals to snag with their  talk about a comfy car service. So, we had a car waiting outside for us...got loaded up and the adventure began.

I thought people in San Francisco drove crazy...I was wrong....way wrong. I will never complain about Bay Area drivers again....well at least until the memory of this ride wears off. This is the best way to describe it, you know when you are watching an 8 year old play a car racing video game? They weave in between cars, almost hit the side walls, honk when they are at fault. Times that by ten and that was the ride to  the hotel. Mr. Toads Wild Ride I called it. It was actually a lot of fun...it seemed like this was the normal over here. 

Made it safe to the hotel and check in...the plan was to see the BUND at night all lite up...but remember when I said our brain was mush??? Yah...the bund had to wait. 

All I wanted was a soft bed and sllllllleeeeepppppp! We made it to our room....and could not turn on any lights....I was thinking...do u have to tell them when you check in that you want the electricity turned on...so odd. After Amy and I spent minutes trying to figure it out, we found a slot that you need to keep your key in...if you want electricity in your room...oh the laughter we shared...was it because it was really that funny or because we were delirious from a lack of sleep!?!? Got a 8 hours sleep...and I am ready for a fun filled day of adventures, look out China...here we come!

That nasty four letter word....Fear!

I wanted to go to the top of Seattle's Space Needle for so long. You would think that when I got there, I would have leaned over the rail and screamed...I'm FREEEEEE! Ok...maybe that's a little dramatic but its something I really wanted...but once I got to the top, my legs were shaking, my head was spinning and all I could think about was how high up I was. Its something I wanted to see for so long but once I was there FEAR took over. What I did with that fear once I felt it, makes all the difference between me controlling my fear and my fear controlling me. I enjoyed the view....with my heart racing and palms sweating...I took pictures and pretended like I was ok. You know that saying, "Fake it till ya make it", well that's just what  I did! 

I have been told more times than I can count that I am crazy for going to China alone. (I am not going alone anymore because last month my friend Amy decided to buy a ticket and join me...making this trip even more epic) Ok...so let me explain how the whole "let me go on an adventure in china alone thing" started. Last summer I decided to plan a trip to visit my friends in Japan. As I was looking for flights, I noticed that a long layover in China only raised the price of the ticket by a couple hundred bucks....here started the idea. I have always wanted to travel to China...this seemed like the perfect opportunity. First feeling was FEAR. I knew in Japan I had nothing to worry about. I am safe with my friends but spending 5 days in a country where I don't speak the language, don't know my way around and have NO natural directional ability caused so much initial fear. As soon as I recognized this, I put a stop to it. I will not allow fear to rule my life. I will not allow fear to hold me back from the things that feed my soul and create happiness. 

So I did it. I bought that ticket and started planning. I mustered through all the comments along the way...the people trying to tell me "I shouldn't, couldn't. Every time someone brought negativity to my epic adventure. I replied with a simple. "What an adventure I will have, I can't wait." Don't get me wrong, I think a healthy amount of fear is good....it has caused me to plan my train tickets, hotels, write down directions in English and contact everyone I can to make the trip safe and smooth. But I am still pushing the unhealthy fear that would have stopped me from buying the ticket to begin with....and what an adventure it will be. No one looks back on their life and says, "I wish I would have stayed home and watched tv instead of taking the opportunity to have fun"....that's why I take every minute of my life and make the most of it. I want to look back at my life at 90 and have great memories that make me smile just thinking about them. I want to make the most out of my time here!

I can look back and see opportunities that I did not take and adventures I did not go on...just because I was afraid. Fear will always be there...but I get to make the choice if it controls me...or I control it! Next stop....CHINA!

Letting love guide my life....

"And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." Have you ever noticed how often the bible talks about love? Love is something you can't see, you can't smell it or touch it. It's one of those things that has no logic. You have to FEEL it. For someone like me, one of the scariest things in life is to not use logic and use only my feelings. Logic is safe....makes sense. I base all my decisions on logic, I don't use my feelings to make decisions. It's one of the reasons I don't have unnecessary drama in my life. I think about things before I act on them...usually causes better decision making. Something I have learned this year is that sometimes that all goes out the window and you have to choose love. 

There are different types of love. The love you feel for your child is very different than the love you feel for your spouse, parent or friend. 

The love you feel for your child is unconditional. There is nothing they can do to stop that love. You may not agree with their decisions, you may not even like your children some days....but the unconditonal love is always there. I have been tested to he extreme for this one. No matter the struggles with Gabe, I have loved him with every piece of me...even when it was not easy to even like him. There is nothing he can do to stop my love.

I am not married but know the feeling of being in love. It's a great feeling...euphoric....but not unconditional. I am fortunate enough to feel that "in love feeling." When you feel like nothing else matters but that time you have together. There are times you fall in and out of love. Love becomes a choice at some point. You have to have that strong foundation built, once you do the struggles and good times will come and go and you have to make the choice to love that person and never give up.  I believe that once you fall in love with someone, that love can always be reignited. Just like a candle....when you blow out the flame, you can light it again, but it takes a while for the wax to liquefy. If both people are willing to try and work at it, that flame can burn brighter than ever!

The love I have for my family is unique. They know my life story...have been there through each trial, tribulation, joyless occasion and accomplishment. There's a comfort with my family that I can't have with anyone else just because of the amount of time and history that's involved. They know my every flaw and good quality and love me no matter what. You can't pick your family though. It's a crap shoot really. But no matter what, there's a bond there...it's unexplainable. I am fortunate to have the most amazing family ever! I know you are all thinking your family is the best....but that's just because you have never met mine. ;)

The love you have for friends is so unique. Unlike your child and family, you pick these people. You go about life, meet someone and say, "yep...your my kind...come play in my sandbox." It's hard to say what makes you connect with one person or another, but the love is something that grows with time. You make memories together and see each other through the good and bad times and create a bond. There's a "soul connection" between certain friends. As if, part of your soul would not be whole if that person was not helping you feed it. I have a large group of friends....from many walks of life...all different in so many ways. They are from different socio economic classes, professions, views on politics and life in general. There's no rhyme or reason with a generalization of theses people "I picked to be in my life." Except one thing...they all have a great deal of compassion and love for the people that they love. 

Bringing us right back to that word again. The one thing that ties us all together is love. Even though love scares me because it leaves me vulnerable....I will continue to try to only surround myself with people that have that same goal....to love. :)