Beijing Fun Fact #37

You may not need to know this but:

You aren't supposed to flush your toilet paper in China.

Indeed, it is discouraged in most of Asia, as well as parts of Europe.

See that little pink-rimmed bin?

That''s where you need to put your paper.

Lucky the maid takes our rubbish everyday!

Attack of the Washing Machine: Volume 2

As fun as this is:

I knew it was time to meet with the monster again.

I piled up my denims and walked to its lair.

There it sat:

I loaded it up, poured on my washing liquid and closed the lid.

I swiped my key.

I swiped my key.

Nothing.

Alas, the beast was dead.

Normally, the villagers would rejoice, but when their clothes are covered in slimy soap...

Suddenly, a distant jingling began to draw nearer.

A Chinese handyman!

How handy!

He gave a grunt and jiggled the plug.

The monster's red eyes flashed.

It was awake once more.

I swiped my key.

I swiped my key.

It began to roar.

And unfortunately, it leaked all over the floor.

Blue Sky & Brie.

Today began like any other Beijing day.

White sky - no blue in sight.

Then, in the late afternoon, something amazing happened:

The sun shone and the skies turned blue.

After more than seven days of smog-filled sky, seeing blue is incredibly exciting.

Another incredibly exciting thing about Super Tuesday: Discovering the "Imported Items" aisle in the Carrefour supermarket.

Lauren and I had Korean-brand Saladas with French Brie cheese and Italian sun-dried tomatoes for pre-dinner snacks.

Ladies of leisure?

Why, yes!

Keeping out the Rabbits

I just realised I didn't make a post on this incredible Chinese icon.

It was simply awesome.

Parts of it are incredibly steep but grannies, toddlers and high-heeled fashionistas alike did their best to make the hike.

All my photos of it are up on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31773&l=094a5&id=569723665

Squinting through the Smog

Today was smoggy and humid.

My eyes have been stinging, so much so that I couldn't bear wearing my contact lenses.

Thomas and I went to the Forbidden City.

It is smack-bang in the centre of Beijing.

This photo was taken on my regular camera - the lack of focus behind me is smog.

I hope things start to improve soon.

When there's no plate of crickets and no stirfried heart...

Welcome to my pantry:

Left to right, back to front, we have:

• Absolut Citron & Absolut Vodka: Purchased duty-free and good for a break from all the cheap cheap beer.


• Some kind of choc-chip biscuit...just in case guests drop by. hehe


• "Just add water" rice... good for a change from all the:


• "Just add water" noodles! I didn't realise that in a place where you can buy such cheap food at restaurants that there would be such a booming instant noodle market! Everyone's shopping baskets are crammed full of noodles!


• An apple in a Styrofoam sleeve - the apples are nice, you just have to peel them. Nobody likes cholera.


• Skippy peanut & choc swirl: Yay! It's not particularly nutritious but it's good on bread for breakfast!


• Mandarins - for some reason I was surprised to see them in China...even though it's what the main dialect is here! They're good and taste kind of minty.


• Nature Valley Museli Bars - they taste like Anzac biscuits!


• Pretz - like Chicken Crimpies but stretched out into a long stick. Addictive.


• Lipton Green Tea. Just tastes like the same from home!!

Other notable mentions:

• Bananas - they're yellow. They're good. They're bananas.


• Bread - a little bit sweet and goes mouldy fast from the humidity.


• Ice Dew - the Chinese version of Mount Franklin! The tap water isn't safe over here but the bottled water is dirt cheap from the supermarket. At room temperature, it costs about 20c Australian a bottle.

In The Money

I've decided Australia has the greatest system of currency in the world.

Chinese money is annoying.

I don't even know what some of the tiny notes and coins are even worth!

In terms of value in Australian equivalency, the little red one at the bottom is worth around 7cents.

There is another note worth less than that, along with coins worth even less than that!

To make matters worse, tipping is not an acknowledged part of the culture.

So you can't even off-load your coinage in most circumstances.

Anyone want me to donate to their international coin collection?

Godzirra not so much apparently...uh-oh

I think I got a little over-excited that I can actually fit some Chinese footwear...

I now have some more babies:


Jackson thinks they look Gucci.

Being the sometimes inappropriate fashionista I am, I wore them to Chinese Pizza Hut last night.

Our taxi driver got a little confused and dropped us off about 200 metres from the restaurant.

Unfortunately Chinese walkways aren't quite as sturdy as one would expect, considering that all the women wear high-heels all of the time.

I nearly stacked it three times.

Thank heavens for these exciting young things.

They got me through a soccer game on Sunday.


I feel like some kind of hip-hop superstar when I wear them.

It's fantastic!

So here's my full collection...


Dad, I think we need to put some new shelves up.

Eeek!! It's Godzirra!!

I offended a shop assistant the other day.

I requested a size 40 shoe.

She let out a blood-curdling squeal and cowered with fear.

Well not really.

But she made it very clear to me that I should march my Australian size 9 feet straight out the door, and never return.

But yesterday, in an unexpected turn of fate, there they were.

The cutest (and most comfortable) espadrilles in the west... and east.

For just Y75... $A12

And they're only a size 39.

I still want the graded-colour Prada runners though...

I might see what she says if I ask for a 39!

Alcoholics Anonymous Auditions

With every day, Australia's alcohol laws are becoming stricter.

So it's an ice-cold refreshment to come to a place where such legislation doesn't exist.

Friday night took us to a place called "Nanjing - Shut Up and Just Drink" in the Sanlitun area.

And conveniently or unfortunately (depends how much you've had) there is table service.

I'd love to see them try to open a franchise in Australia!

The shots are all Y10 each (about $A1.50) and the cocktails range from Y15-50.

A tray of 12 shots is Y100 (about $A15).

As soon as the waiter sees your glass is on the emptier side of halfway, a drinks menu is again thrust upon you.

If you fail to place an order, the waiter looks at you, eyebrow cocked in perplexity.

By the end of the night, everyone in the club is totally hammered, but yet not one fight breaks out.

It just seems like everyone is having a great time.



Also, with that much social lubricant in one's system, I found that people were actually more willing to strike up a conversation with a random.

And, compared to Australia, there were significantly less seedy old men on the prowl.

In fact, I did not see a single one!

Smog-tacular

I heard the pollution in Beijing was bad.

I coughed my way through the first few grey-skied days.

But is it bad that after a week, I don't really notice it now?

A friend recited a statistic: One day in Beijing does the equivalent damage to a person's lungs as smoking 70 cigarettes.

The measures the Chinese government have started implementing to minimise pollution in the city have possibly started working.

If I sleep with my window open, I wake up feeling like I need a hit of my asthma inhaler.

But walking in the street each day, foul smells of rotten food, poor drainage and waste facilities cause me the most anguish.

Every couple of days, the clouds lift and you can see for miles.


Until that time when the fog clears though, it's hard to see a building at the end of the road.


It just makes the handful of sunny days that little bit more special.

To have a city that supports the same population as my whole country, it is no surprise to me that this extent of pollution exists.

Yet another reason why Australia is the lucky country.

My Chinese Laundry

The 12th floor has a possessed washing machine.

It is perfectly fine until: the spin cycle.

At this point, it procedes to make a continuous noise that one girl thought was the elevator crashing.

I set my first load going this afternoon.

The elevator crashed.

I ran to the laundry and alas, the little washing machine was dancing across the tiles.

The unsuspecting maid also made the dash to investigate.

Through sign language and giggles, we managed to pull the plug and return peace to the 12th floor.

One problem: no spinning = no drying + small apartment with minimal hanging space = this:

A full shower rail...

And a window sill coathanger tree...

There are clothes everywhere.

Tights on the TV.

A skirt on the sink.

Wide-open wardrobe.

My very own Chinese laundry.

New Stuff

Here's some more exciting Chinese purchases:

A popper clock!

Tea party anyone? My cute little kettle.

Neon Time - fully sick sunnies & a watch made for party time.

China rocks!

My Bleeding Heart

So we accidentally ate pig's heart.

We knew it was pork.

We didn't know it was a heart.

But it was, quite honestly, the most astoundingly delicious pork I've ever eaten.

We got the beef tonight though.

Not as nice, but it wasn't a heart.

We thought it would be a bit creepy to get it again knowing it was heart.

Then again, I did eat a cricket knowing it was a cricket...

When in Rome!

Foreigner Fascination

Never have people wanted a photo with me just because I have white skin and brown hair.

I really didn't expect that the Chinese would be so very fascinated by the appearance of average western people.

I guess Australia is so very multicultural that I don't think twice when someone with different coloured skin or hair walks by.

On our visit to the New Summer Palace, a small group of us were having a quick rest in the shade when a family approached us to have a photo with their children.

We didn't mind in the slightest.

A little bit later though, I noticed two ladies attempting to take covert photos of our group.

I felt like Lindsay Lohan.

So I marched on over to them and said it was only fair if I cold take a photo of them:

They then wanted another photo of me.

On my visit to the Great Wall, the same thing happened.

The paparazzi really went into overdrive when we made friends with some fun black dudes.

It was as if no one had ever seen a white girl and a black guy pose in a photo together!

I mean, we didn't exactly look like Seal and Heidi Klum!

Another thought: what will they do with all the photos they snapped of us?

Make a scrapbook??

This is one thing I just didn't expect at all.

Look Over Here, Beautiful Girl!!

If you are suffering from some low self-esteem issues, visit the Silk Road Markets.

I have never received as many compliments in such a short period of time!

But don't be too disheartened when you realise that the man saying "You beautiful lady!", suddenly changes his tune when you decide you don't want his "Guxxi" silk tie. (As though you didn't realise the brand is actually Gucci...)

My experience with these markets left me with a pounding headache and an empty purse.

Nothing has a fixed price, so it can easily take anywhere up to 20 minutes to seal a deal.

It is such a game.

• Don't act too interested (even if you are wetting yourself to buy fluro green leather Balenciaga handbag).
• Don't start the bidding too low (or the shopkeeper will chase you yelling obscenities - poor Katie)
• Try and buy a few things at the one stall (buddy up and play off each other)
• Find something wrong with the product (as minor/difficult as it may be)
• Don't back down (they're desperate to sell you whatever they can)
• What really worked for us, plead that the product is just too good for you, that you aren't worthy of 100% silk and that you'll just have to go to the polyester knock-offs stall. They love it.

I got my bag down from Y3000 to Y1000 with an Alexander McQueen scarf in there as well.

Katie and I pooled resources to get two gorgeous silk scarves down from Y1800 each to Y200 for both.

But, don't expect to make friends when you get them to go so low.

I wouldn't want to cross either of the sales assistants that I did the above deals with again!

For a less stressful experience for today's lazy, rainy afternoon, we stayed local and hit a tiny boutique we passed on an earlier walking tour.

It is an incredible store with some designer labels, (fake, faulty & near-new) as well as other random fun stuff.

We were able to wander in with a subtle "ni hao" and just rat through the racks, uninterrupted.

Judging by our fellow rack-ratters, we definitely picked it as the "It" place for the cool kids to shop.

There's only one of everything and the stuff I liked in the window last Friday was long gone today.

Everything seemed to be great quality and for a tiny shop, there was a lot on offer.

Here are two of the three great little numbers I got for less than $A40:

I'll most probably head back down the Silk Road but nothing beats the ease of slightly off-beat, small-scale stores.

Stairway to love...

We've found our fail safe eatery.

For $A8, I had bacon and eggs on toast, a pineapple juice (bu bing=no ice) and a black coffee.

AND, I lived to tell the tale!

We also had some great pizzas and a pot of jasmine tea there on Friday.

We were warned about the food here and that it isn't hard to get sick, so it's exciting to find a place where we can successfully eat food from the "risky" list ie: eggs.

We've had a few banquet-style meals put on by BOCOG and one by Newcastle Uni's Chinese Alumni.

These have been amazing.

It's given everyone a chance to visit restaurants that we otherwise wouldn't have known about.

The Alumni lunch was held in an incredible restaurant hidden away from uninitiated eyes in a dirty alley.

Everything I put in my mouth was spectacular.

This was up there with the best fish I've ever eaten!

We also ate at one of the world's best Peking duck restaurants.

The chef slices each duck into over 90 slices.

Absolutely amazing food.

Go Aussie Go!

Apparently the other universities are a bit cranky...

Us ten Newcastle kids are the only ONS reporters working on the swimming, diving & syncronised swimming.

Although it is amazing, I'm a little disappointed I may not get to mix with some other kids from other universities.

I met a few new people yesterday however so that was exciting. 2 Americans and an Indian/British girl.

It was great to hear some different perspectives on Beijing, as well as to simply make a random friend!

Everyone has found the distinct lack of blue sky a bit hard to deal with.

It was so exciting to have a bright blue Saturday!

Crazy Cars, Crotch-less Kiddie Pants and Crunchy Crickets

We had a bit of an exploration day yesterday.

Four of us wandered off-campus to track down breakfast.

We picked a place out that was packed with locals and ordered by pointing at the pictures on the menu.

It ended up being really nice and none of us got sick.

The female waitress stared at my chest quite intensely for a while there though.

We just figured she’d probably never really seen those before.

(And yes Mum, they were covered up)

For four of us, with a giant pot of tea, it only cost us 45 Yuan.

And they don’t understand tipping.

I’m not sure if that will be any different right in the city, but at this place, they had no idea why we tried to leave our change behind.

It was good sitting near a window too.

We got to discover an incredible phenomenon: crotch-less pants – for babies.

Yes, welcome to the land of no Huggies.

Mothers encourage their not-yet-toilet-trained offspring to just, well, let it go.

Wherever, whenever.

The example we saw was about 12-15 months in little pink pants – with a giant split straight through the crotch.

Ew, gross.

Always wear shoes in China!

We had a meeting with BOCOG officials yesterday afternoon to find out where we will be working and what uniform size we would need.

I’m pleased to announce, I have been chosen to work at…

The National Aquatic Centre!!

Below is my team, and we’ll be covering the swimming, diving and yes, the synchronised swimming too.

YAY!!!!

It seems like we have a more intense training schedule than most other sports.

But I think working a lot will be good, especially as we can be closer to the city.

I got asked to do a radio interview for China Radio International.

Thankfully, it was for the English-speaking branch.

It’s a bit scary actually speaking Chinese in real situations!

Just saying ‘hello’ and ‘thank you’ have served me well.


After that, we had to go try on our incredible uniforms.

Unfortunately we didn’t get to have a trial run with the bucket hat, nor the bumbag.

The zip-off at the knee, elastic waist cargo pants are even more high-rise than expected.

They are every bit as amazing as they sound :s

The sizes were really small – I, and a few other girls, had to march our size 9 and over feet into the boys change-room to fit the shoes.

After a bit more of a stroll around, we all went home and got ready to go out for dinner.

Dinner was at a place called ‘American Island’.

Picture East Maitland Bowling Club’s Billabong’s restaurant, but triple the amount of food options.

And don’t forget to include a section for the fried INSECTS!!

I ate a cricket.

Actually a few, they tasted like rice snacks.

(Mel, you’d love them IF you could handle eating an insect…which I doubt hehehe)

I also ate some pigeon.

Sort of tastes like chicken but has a more intense flavour.

Apparently the giant bush cockroaches weren’t so nice...

I couldn’t go that far!

The restaurant also has an in-house crocodile.

I think they may cook and replace him each day.

He was still alive when we saw him but was caged-up near the stove…

Today we’re headed to the markets early, then back to the apartment to get ready for our embassy visit and BOCOG dinner tonight.


Crickets and crocodiles,

xo

In The Morning

(Originally written by hand in notebook at 9am 10/07/2008, transferred to online form once available)

I want breakfast but I don’t know how :(

I have a pretty good view out of my windows...

Even though I’m staying at a university, it’s a whole lot like a hotel.

I had to stick a Do Not Disturb sign on my door to stop the maid from barging in!

There’s a lot of loud Chinese conversations going on outside my room, which is terribly frustrating.

Not because it woke me up, just because I’m a hardcore eavesdropper and I have no idea what they are talking about!!

There’s constant honking going on outside on the road.

It’s driving me crazy not having my laptop or phone online!!

I need contact with the outside English-speaking world!!

It's 3am...

(Originally written by hand in notebook at 3am 10/07/2008, transferred to online form once available)

It’s just past 3am Beijing time.

So, it’s just past 5am Australia time.

I’ve been up for 24 hours.

Fun.

Our flight got delayed three times but the lovely people on the desk at Qantas gave us all a $15 meal voucher each to use at the airport.

We spent 11 hours on the plane.

At least there were lots of things to watch on our individual TVs.

I watched everything from Family Guy episodes to a documentary on China.

International economy has really improved since I last did it!

My luggage checked in at 22kgs – I think the three textbooks I had to bring had something to do with that.

It was last off the conveyor belt at Beijing airport too.

That started to get a bit scary!!

Surprisingly, Chinese customs was very stress-free and quick.

Granted it was 1am, but still, the staff were pretty laidback considering the Olympic fever in the air.

Beijing airport is without a doubt the coolest airport I’ve ever been in.

We had to catch a train from the plane to our baggage!

As soon as we walked out of the airport though, the humidity and the pollution just absolutely smacks you in the face.

It’s pollution unlike anything I’ve ever experienced and, mixed with the intense humidity, it’s no wonder we were told to expect sinus infections and asthma issues.

The smog is just so thick!

We had a one hour bus trip to the Beijing Foreign Studies University.

Even at 130am, the driver was honking his horn non-stop.

Cars just don’t seem to stay in their lanes and indicators are seldom used.

My room is really nice.

An awesome airconditioner.

Floorboards, quality furniture and a small but very functional bathroom.

My only issue is with the bed.

It feels like I’m laying on a coffee table.

I’m yet to figure out my internet connection which is made worse by my not having a Chinese sim card yet either.

I need COMMUNICATION!!

One great electrical thing though is that the power-points are the same as Australia, just upside down!

After a bit of a sleep-in, we’re going to go get our Olympic uniforms tomorrow.

I’m hideously tired so I best try to get comfortable on this wood block of a bed.

Peace xo

They're not Chinese but...

I bought an incredible pair of shoes today.





And just in case my mother reads this, I'm not disclosing the price tag.

I've been lusting after them for a looong time and today, i finally bit the (expensive-but-oh-so-worth-it) bullet!

And yes, I realise it may seem a bit random sticking them in this Chinese blog but they will be coming along for the Asian adventure.

As Thomas said, "a mother would not leave home without her child".

The Countdown Begins...

This time, in exactly one week, I will be onboard a Qantas aeroplane, just hours from landing in Beijing, China.

I, along with 299 other university students from around the world, have been recruited by BOCOG (the Beijing Olympic Committee) to work as a Flash Quote Reporter (FQR) for the Olympic News Service (ONS).

I'm half-packed, nearly finished all my vaccinations and so very keen to go explore another country again!

From what we've been told so far, and it isn't a whole lot, we're going to be working pretty much 24/7 when the Games are on.

We'll be placed on a sport for its duration (my fingers and toes are crossed for the swimming!) and we'll get to wear an incredibly attractive outfit...

I'll be in the blue.

Yep, the one with the bucket hat, yellow bumbag & zip-off elastic-waist cargo pants.

Ooooh yeeeeaah.

Sexytime.

I'm going to try to keep this blog as updated as possible with all the latest from my Asian adventure.

Most of my (probably hilarious) photos will go on my facebook but some notables might get a look-in on here.

Peace out xo