sightseeing in Shanghai

After all troubles with passports are over we finally can start to check out Shanghai. Obviously the first thing to do is to visit the bund, to have an amazing view of the skyling of Shanghai (check the fotos below)

As my camera has GPS and it can therefore tell you where the photo has been taken, i gave it a go. Though the Chinese government does not seem to approve of this invention as the GPS has been blocked!!!! Okay no problem we go to see the YuYuan Gardens. First of all you see traditional Chinese gardens and the old town of Shanghai. Acutally this old town looks like the stereotype of China itself. Whereever you go you can see red paper latersn and manga rabbits (it is the year of the rabbit). Once in a while some one offers you the opportunity for shopping: „Lady.... shoppiiiinnnngg???? Lui Vitton and nices watches... very nice very nice“ So far though no watches or bags for me. Unfortunately it is really cold right now in Shanghai so after a day outside most of your body is frozen.

The next day we had to try the Maglev. Maglev is short for magnetit laviation system (Magnetschwebebahn). It was acutally designed for the city of Munich but it turned out to be too expensive and as the Chinese have to much money and like to copy, the built one in Shanghai from the Airport to the city center.

Usually the trip by metro from the city center to the airport takes around 45 minutes but by Maglev is around 10 minutes as it is able to go at a maximum speed of 430 km/h. Amazing !!!!! I took a picture when we were at maximum speed. This is the fastest train in the world and guess what (to Fabis dissatisfaction) it is driven by a lady :-)

Another highlight was clubbing in Shanghai. As it has been rainy and disgusting we decided that a night out would lift our spirits. Many other hostel people joined again of a night out. Acutally clubbing in Shanghai for Chinese is pretty expensive (actually also for Europeans if they would pay the same price). Well because the Chinese rent a table in the club which is around 350 Euros!!!! + drinks!!!! that would be definitely too expensive for us but fortunately they also have the offer of 100 yuan for an open bar = 11 Euro for an open bar. This does not seem attractive to the average Chinese people but for us it is definitely good enough!! This was a pretty posh club and basically people are there to be seen and not to dance. Only in the middle of the club in front of the DJ there are 3 dancing platforms for those who want to present themselves dancing = US!!!! Of course we met again other Europeans, especially French.... it turned out to be an amazing night even though we were slightly underdressed ;-)

China is in the world especially famous for its copy products but apart from a few copy watches and bags I hadn t seen much other copy stuff until one afternoon! Acuatally it was the afternoon after the clubbing night....everybody was basically just recovering and not up for much but a trip to a shop. I had seen this shop before full of junk (bracelets, paschmina, toys and muffs) but what I did not know was the fact that you could go downstairs!!!!!!! This time we went downstairs and there you find the copy wonderland!!!!! It s like Alice entering after the rabbit the wonderland...you just can t stop staring!!!! Any kind of Iphon, camera, sun glasses, clothes, soft ware..... everything is available. A hostel friend of mine bought a fake i-phon.... it acutally looks like the real one and can to the same stuff except updating for new aps.... guess how much? Well we started at 700 yuan and ended at 350 yuan = around 40 euros!!!!!! of course you need to bargain like hell and walk away at least twice but eventually you ll get your fake iphon!!!! amazing place!!!!

It is though not to easy to leave this place as a western lady looks like a walking dollar bill ready to be stopped! Even though the temptation was big, i did not buy a fake iphon or anything else!!!!

Culture & Lifestyle in China

Do you remember me telling you about the civilized people in Hong Kong queuing in front of the bus stop and carefully waiting until everybody got out so that the can get in.............. Nice but definitely not in Wuhan or Shanghai!!!!!! It is actually even worse than in Europe... Any person independent of rank or class squeezes into the metro the moment the door opens. Also at the supermarket cash point.... queuing is absolutely not happening here. After 8 ladies just jumped the queue i gave up and pushed an elderly lady away who tried to squeez in!!!!

Metro station are a little bit different than in any european capital. Obviously the Chinese are really afraid of terror attacts and therefore your bag is always scanned for dangerous items before you enter the metro!!!! Moreover you see a lot of people wearing masks over the mouth. I thought first that they are afraid of the bird flue or any other desease but NO, it is to protect me from their cold. I didn t know ... so i kept sneezing and blowing my nose in public :-)

 Finally I d like to show you a photo of the old townof Shanghai. Basically it looks exactly like the stereotype of China in any movie. Yuyuan garden (old town in Shanghai) is vastly decorated with paper lanterns and rabbits. Soon at the 3nd of February the Chinese New Year starts, which will be the year of the rabbit. That s why you ll find everywhere around China loads of rabbits!

a black day in Shanghai

Before I left, my parents made absolutely clear to me that I have to take care of my valuables ... especially money, passport and credit card. Nowadays all money issues can be quite easily solved if you are in Shanghai... The only thing your REALLY don t want to loose is your passport...

So guess what............... after this amazing evening in the jazz bar.. i was checking my inside pocket of my jacket and of course my passport was gone... A bit nervous i started checking all my pockets, bags and my room... but NOTHING. The only place to loose it was the Jazz Bar... therefore straight to the bar. Unfortunately the janitor spoke only Chinese and could not really help us. Therefore i had to return at 4 when the bar opens. Meanwhile we took a walk through Shanghai... but actually i could not really enjoy it as my thoughts were still on my lost passport and the possible consequences.

At 4 I went there again.... but unfortunately nobody had seen it, but they kept my details in case they would find something. I was absolutely desperate. I went back home to the hostel to check the internet for possible solution. By then I started to recognize the dimension of the problem. A new passport would take around 3 weeks to receive and I would have to show my original birth certificate which I don t carry with me on my trip. An emergency passport would only take me home but not to any other country. To stay until I receive a new passport, the duration of my visa will expire, but I can t get it extended as I don t have the passport or the visa anymore, but i can also not simply fly home, as I don t have the visa anymore and they need it to allow me to fly home. so basically I am trapped... can t stay but can t go anywhere else either..... I WANT MY PASSPORT back!!!!!!!

In the meantime a Chinese friend of Fabi came by and took us for nice Chinese dinner. Actually i didn t feel like going for dinner at all... but just to take off my mind of my passport i joined. The restaurant was pretty fancy and as we didn t have a dinner reservation we had to wait for an hour. In the lobby they provided you with drinks (on the house) and games. So I started to learn the basics of Chinese chess. But i got  confused by the characters.

The restaurant is huge and apart from us there are no westeners. In the table there is a sort of fondue pot included which is filled with fish soup. We ordered various kinds of meat (beef, chicken and lamm) which is than put into the soup to cook. In the soup there is also fish with bones. Fabis Chinese friend simply spits the bones on the table !!! We are surprised but pretend that this is absolutely normal for us!!!!

After the dinner Chang (Fabi's Chinese friend) has to leave so we are again heading to the jazz bar first of all to check whether they found my passport and secondly because Fabi arranged a Jam-Session with the band. When we arrive there I ask again for my passport... but the waiters shake negating their heads. BUT suddenly a guy shows up waving my passport...“are you looking for that?“ , GOD DAMN YES!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was soo happy that i treated myself again with a 8 euro beer!!!!!!!

Meanwhile Fabi prepared his mind to play for the first time in front of an audience. Pls check out the fotos..... very good .... and defenitely a highlight !!!!

Fortunately everything is okay again and i will keep my passport from now on in the hostel safe! j don t care anymore about rules that you actually need to be able to show it any time...... it is simply to dangerous to loose it!!

Kisses from Shanghai

Wuhan city

The first night in Wuhan was actually damn cold. Even though there was a heating in our dormitory, the windows are similar to those in a birdhouse... almost non-existing. Therefore it was even harder in the morning to get up from your finally cosy warm sleeping bag.

Please check out the bathroom... you can actually see the WHOLE bathroom on the picture...

Yes EXACTLY!!! The hole in the floor is the toilet and if you want to take a shower you just stand right above the hole :-) but its quite convenient... as you can t flush the toilet you just use the shower to flush :-D

After a noodle breakfast we headed into the „big town“. Well actually it is really big (8 mio inhabitants) but there is no such thing as a center. The traffic is probably unique in this world. Traffic lights, traffic signs, pedestrians, whatever does not have any value here at all!

Finally we find the sights of Wuhan.... the so called „Red Chamber“ where a small revolution has taken place and the yellow crake tower. If you would like the totally boring red chamber please check out the rules that you have to obey. Especially look at rule number 8 in case you are a psychopath!!!!

I would not recommend going there... there is absolutely NOTHING inside!!!! and those of you who think that this might serve your history knowledge.... well only if you are able to read Chinese characters... otherwise totally useless.

Finally we found THE highlight in Wuhan... it is the snack – street. There you have little stands that sell traditional Chinese food! Very nice !!!!!! Please check out the special dish that we found......................................... roasted turtle!!!!!

Finally we went to the train station to get a ticket to shanghai. Thx for the advise Zhu, but we were lucky and still got a ticket to shanghai. On the train an elderly couple set right next to us... they were studying us and our behaviour the WHOLE trip. Astrid & Fabian sleeping, eating instant noodels, talking, staring out of the window, getting up to use the bathroom.... really EVERYTHING we did was a highlight to them. But the moment we turned in their direction.... they turned away :-)

We had already prebooked a hostel in shanghai, so we were heading there. We were hanging out a little bit in the lobby and instantly we met a nice group of people (french, chiliean, german) who were heading out for a drink.  Of course we joined. We ended up in a jazz bar (called Jazz and Blues) EXCELLENT place... amazing music but though a little expensive. Acutally I had there the most expensive beer in my whole life!! 8 Euros for half a liter..... not even the Oktoberfest in Munich charges that much ... well yes but for a liter of beer!!!!

Anyway Fabi and me were in an thriving mood and we were dancing in the bar, even chatting up some chinese to dance with us + conversing with lots of expats....

On our way we found the chinese version of Kapsalon (in the Netherlands) or Käsekrainer (in Austria)... barbequed meat on a stick! very nice and actually very cheap. Fpor 20 sticks (3 people) we paid 20 yuan = 2,2 euro!!!! hmmmmmm LEKKER

Trip to Wuhan

A trip to Wuhan – China

After Hong Kong we decided to take the high speed train to Wuhan, as it is supposed to be the fastest train in the world, even slightly faster than the French TGV!! At max. speed it is supposed to go 350 km/h!!!! Of course we need to experience that first hand. Therefore we crossed the border from HK to mainland China on foot to Shenzen.

At the duty free shops we spend our last HK dollars for water, cookies and chewing gum hmmm what a feast! Right after the border in Shenzen there is the train and bus station. Unfortunately also right after the border any English skills from the locals disappear completely. Everything is written in Chinese and as the Chinese New Year is soon to come the station is a total mess packed with Chinese people any age trying to get home.

After we exit the border terminal a policemen stops as and gestures that we have to wait in a specific waiting square that he makes up for us!!! We are a little puzzled meanwhile he is giving a call to somebody with his private mobile phone... we try to sneak off but he gestures that we should stay where we are. Suddenly a guy shows up who is actually able to speak English and wants to „organize“ tickets for us, we just need to give our passport to him and he will sort everything out! Of course we figured eventually that they want to rip us off and we excuse us to head away. Now a 1,5 hour odyssey to buy a ticket starts. Eventually we meet a tiny Chinese guy who usually carries luggage for passengers who speaks around 5 words of English. He explains to us that we have to take a Bus to Guangzouh where the highspeed train actually departs. Therefore he takes us to the right ticket office, orders the tickets, shows us the waiting room and the correct bus stop. This little person was a real angel!!!! Once in a while a couple of awkward guys were trying to sell us a busride to Wuhan (which is around 1100 km away)!!!! but our little angel is gesturing that those guys wanna rip us off and that we should get away as fast as possible.

After a 2,5 hour bus ride we arrived in Guangzouh. I have never seen such a vast train station... it seems as it was built to accommodate at least 50 percent of the Chinese population at once!!!! There we had to queue for another 2 hours just to get the tickets!!! While we were waiting we made friends with two Chinese guys where one of them spoke around 100 words of English but that was already enough to become our friend of the day! He turned out to be extremely helpful and handy as he ordered the tickets for us and took us to the correct gate. Unlike in Austria or Europe you can t enter the platform before the train arrives, you have to wait like in an airport until the train is ready to be boarded. Unfortunately due to the Chinese New Year everything was a mess and the train was delayed by 2,5 hours. A lady made constantly announces via a huge megaphone, of course only in Chinese. Fortunately our new Chinese friends, could figure out that we had to take eventually another train which was still a highspeed traIn.

To introduce us to Chinese traveling food one of our new friends invited us for a traditional instant cup soup. Basically this instant soup contains dry noodles and some chemicals (too artificial to call them spices) to make it taste. All around the train station you can find „Samowars“ where you can get hot fresh water, cause the tap water is full of chlorine. So you add some hot water to the chemical pot and the try noodles and you have a „decent“ hot meal. Looking around we saw, that basically everybody enjoyed such an artifical meal, therefore: „In China,do it as the Chinese do“ we tried as well.

Again we were fascinated by their way of eating noodles. To imagine better, think about when you were a kid, how your mum forbid you to eat noodles. Thats the correct way to do it! Make as much noise as possible you need to just suck them in, once in a while spitting something back into the pot!

Eventually we got on the train and had an excellent ride to Wuhan. The train is really fast and luxurious, with enough space for your feet and every now and then a lady is either passing by to sell food or to clean up your mess!

After 3,5 hours we arrived in Wuhan. Imagin 1000 km in 3,5 hours!!!!!! Totally cool!

Our Chinese friend put us to a taxi and explained the driver where to go. Fortunately we had taken a photo of the Chinese address (written in Chinese characters). Cause after a 2 minute ride, the driver slowly stopped on the highway(!) and asked in Chinese for the way again. OHO that is not a good sign! Well we showed him the map again and were hoping for the best!

Now a 20 minute ride on an absolute straight street started! Just straight ahead, no curves, no turns and absolutely ignoring red traffic lights! I started to get scared that he would drop us in the middle of no-where at one o clock in the night asking for money to take us somewhere to a more civilized area.

But eventually he really dropped us at our youth hostel!!!! What a relief. The meter said that its 31 yuan but he was asking for 50, so we started to argue. He was screaming in Chinese and we were screaming back in German. To make us feel a little tensed he had locked us in! After a little while we managed a compromise of 40.... well i guess you need to be prepared for a little rip off!!!

We got finally out of the taxi and walked over to the youth hostel sign but we found only huge iron gates which seemed to be locked!!!! nooooo.....we wanted a bed RIGHT NOW! Fortunately fabi managed to somehow open the gate and we found our way to the entrance of the hostel!!!!!!!!!

Well from that experience you can see travelling in China is defenitely an experience to be made and good for some fun and adventure!

Treiben in Hong Kong

Hello, still from Hong Kong,

I think i mentioned already that there is a timedifference between Austria and Hong Kong. It is 6 hours later. Therefore at 4 o clock in the night we are totally awake but at 11 in the morning deep deep asleep. It happend as foreseen we totally overslept on day 3. We woke up at 2:30 Hong Kong time!! Consequently half of the day has had already past. Therefore we needed an activity that would not need a whole day's time.
After all your suggestions we decided to see the giant metal outdoor Buddha. This huge Buddha statue is located at an island close to the main island of Hong Kong in between hills and montains. It can either be reached by cable care (tourist way = tourist price) or bus. Before we arrived there I suggested to hike up there (because: sports + cheap + fresh air + the way of suffering is supposed to lead to Buddha [and in that case actually does]) this idea was stricly declined by Fabian and after I saw the path from the cable car I was happy about it. To treat ourselves we went for the cable car uphill but downhill by bus! As we kind of overslept we arrived rather late and saw the huge Buddha in the final sunrays of the day.
I was quite surprised to find out that this Buddha is not an ancient thing that was built by slaves with their bare hands but by the modern Chinese with cranes and building machines!!! The Chinese figured that they are slowly running out of outdoor Buddha statues and therefore they decided that it was time to stock up!!!

Giant Buddha in Lantau!

Close to the huge Buddha there is a nice temple which we visited as well. Afterwards we decided to go for some enjoyment = going out in Soho. This is supposed to be the best partying area in Hong Kong. If you know the Soho in New York or London, you are full of expectations and crazy hopes. Unfortunately those won t be satisfied in Hong Kong. This "crazy" party area offers a couple of bars and quite a few eat and drink restaurants (quite stylish) but not exactly crazy (i would rather say a little posh). Apart from that basically only European Expats are hang out there, trying to reproduce some home memory from mostly good old England :-)

Ahhhh sorry i forgot about the food: by the time we came back from Buddha heading for Soho, i sort of died from hunger, which could be felt by my declining spirit and mood. Therefore we had to pop into a small Hong Kong Street kitchen..... can be good, but doesn t have to be. This time unfortunately the latter. I had "Fish Ball Soup" !!!! hmmmm round thingymees made of fish-something. Felt like Cautchuk (rubber) but tasted hmmmm different... though not too nice. Fabi was and is still dying for some rice. After 3 days in Hong Kong we did not yet manage to have some rice!!! Everything is either served in a soup or with noodles. Fabi = not happy !!!

Okay day number 4:
today we decided to visit the OCEAN PARK!!!! yyeaahh absolutely cool!!! rollercoasters, giant pandas, dolphines and whiskers show, many different kind of fish and birds, cable car again and a train adjusted to the theme. I really liked it. We did some really horrible rollercoaster rides. I certainly do not care for those things but had to join as Fabi only enjoys it if a girl is panicly screeming into his ear :-)
Pandas are cute, dolphines and whiskers super smart + cute. Below i have put a foto of all the Asians in the stadium = massive!!!!! ups i haven t done so, acutally i put one of me and fabi in the raging river! anyway the other foto just shows loads of asians in a stadium!

Fabi and me in the Ocean Park riding the raging river!

After 7 hours in the themepark we were quite tired and decided to take the bus home. At that point you could really see that Hong Kong was occupied by the british: Thousands (well many...) of people were waiting for the same bus.. but totally organised in a perfectly formed queue!!! If one would jump the queue or be out of line, a supervisor would immediately take actions :-)

Okay finally arrived at the metro station ready to take the metro: this one is especially for you sara!!!! I arrive at the platform and what do i see? Millions of Asian who AGAIN queue in front of the gates of the metro to enter the metro. I had to wait for 4 trains until i could finally bord it, as there were soo many of them. Pls Sara check the picture of the crowd!

Crowds waiting for the metro in line!!!

Tomorrow we are going to Wuhan! That is going to be impressive as we will be officially entering China (were according to stories English-speaking people are very scare)! We have found a hostel, called pathfinder hostel (scout hostel) which fits perfectly as i have been 12 years a member of the scouts. To direct the taxi driver i took already a photo of google maps (which is partly in mandarin). Let s hope it will work!!!!!

Okay my last words from Hong Kong: I) really loved it here! Amazing place, lots of things to do, quite international but with Asian flair!! Anybody who has ever the chance to visit, pls do so!!!!! If you get the chance to be an expat in HK with good salary and driver.... pack your bags immediatly!!!!
With love from Hong Kong
Astrid and Fabian

Skyline of main island taken from Kowloon, taken from the walk of stars in HK main island

Ankunft in Hong Kong

After your dear girls (Isabella, Theresa and Pia) took us to the airport in Munich and kissed us goodbye, we started the 18 hour journey. First we flew to London Heathrow where we changed the plane to destination: Hong Kong.

As our flight from Munich to Hong Kong was already by half and hour delayed we had doubts that the slightly chaotic cargoteam from airport heathrow would manage to transfer our luggage correctly and in time....
From London to HK we flew with Virgin Atlantic and to be honest, I was impressed by the excellent service + superior movie/music/games/tv series selection!!! 12,5 hours flight did not seem in enough to cover the most interesting movies. Unfortunately Fabian's screen or remote control did not work so he had to relocate and squeeze in between two amazingly huge asian guys... or suffer without any entertainment medium. (He chose the first option).
My neighbour was though smaller and thinner but an elderly chinese lady who spent the whole flight coughing, sneezing, burbing and sniffing (i even offered a tissue which was declined by her). During the flight I prepared myself already for a hospital visit, as I was certain that she definitely had the "bird flue". When we finally arrived in Hong Kong it was already 6 o clock in the evening (local time). Hostel is nice and clean but rather like a family hotel than a party hostel.... hmmm
After the check in we went for our first real Chinese dinner. As it was the first evening we chose a small familyrun restaurant which had pictures of all dishes on its walls. Never the less fabian continued to be suspicious!! According to him, it is definitely possible that I ordered dumplings fill with dog... which I highly doubt though do not mind :-)

Afterward we went for a walk in the neighbourhood to check out the market and shops. Excellent selection though probably not always a hundred percent quality!!!

Today we started the sightseeing! Bus tour, peak of HK to have a good view over the city and the port, food, strawling around....
nice but exhausting!!! for my rotterdam shipping friends: check out this amazing view with vessels!! for the others who are not to interested in ships: at the peak you ought to declare your love to who ever you want.... i took a picture for all of you ;-) (ps: neither fabi nor me declared anything to anyone... opportunity missed) But for the cheesy romantics among you... photoshop yourself into this picture for the next valentines day :-)

Regards from HK
Astrid + Fabian

What to bring on a 6 month trip around the world?

As you can imagine  it is pretty hard to pack for such a long time especially if you are only allowed to bring max. 20 kilos but the less the better as we have to carry everything by ourselves. So i created a list of things that I will take with me.... just in case you plan a similar trip, you can use it as a help. Or some extra hints what else to take or buy would be useful as well.

Packing list:
Clothes:
1 x Pullover; long sleeve shirt, skiing underwear, 2 x trousers long  (one for cold days and one for warm days), pants (1x), 1 x dress (for fancy occasions), underwear for 5 days, sweat pants (1x), socks for 5 days, gloves, cap, scarf, swimming suit (2x), double layered jacket,

Shoes:
hiking shoes, ballerinas, flip flops, sneakers

Extra stuff:
Camera, 4 x memory card, battery charger camera, extra battery for the camera, mobile phone, charger mobile phone, mp3 player, charger mp3 player, sleeping bag, earrings, necklace, thin cotton sleeping bag (to prevent touching disgustingly used sheets in youth hostels), mosquito net (malaria prevention), bag, netbook ???? (still thinking about it), charger netbook, international student ID, international drivers licence, torch, cuttlery, pocket knife, trekking towel small and big, passport, Lonely Planet South-East Asia and Lonely Planet Australia

Toilet bag:
Tooth brush, tooth paste, soap, shampoo, suncream, meds (lots of stuff, recommended by my doctor just to be safe), eyeliner, mascara, eye shadow, razor, tissues, brush, hair band, blow dryer, nail scissors, little mirror,
  

Well basically that is it!!!!!!!! Amazing I am impressed by myself and my "downsizing" skills!!!!