Christmas Break 2012 - The Mexican Adventure!

Today I was sitting at the community health clinic waiting to get my final set of Hepatitis B shots. I realized that the last time I was at this clinic was in the Spring of 2011, waiting to get my shots before going to China in May and June of 2011.

I started to reminisce about my "Chinese Adventure", and thought about how writing that Blog was a great way to help me "remember" everything about that trip.

This, in turn, got me thinking that I should do another Blog for our upcoming family trip to Mexico (and maybe for all our future trips and adventures as well?).

Ultimately, this "collection of Blog's" might be a nice way for Heather and I to look back on all our vacations (......plus maybe one day our great, great, great grandchildren could read these, and would realize just how cool we actually were!!!!! :)

anyway, here it goes.....

The 2012 Allan Family Trip to Mexico: December 28th, 2011 to January 3rd, 2012.

We.....namely Heather, Jordyn, Chad and I have booked an 8 day trip to the Mayan Riviera this Christmas break.

Picture of the Iberostar Resort (from the pamphlet)

We believe this might be one of our last chances to do a family trip before the kid's start their careers, start getting married (hopefully NOT too soon) and start having their own families (hopefully LATER than the whole getting married thing!).

We have booked into the Iberostar Quetzel Resort, which is located near the town of Playa del Carman.

The Iberostar is an all-inclusive resort, which means that all your food, drinks, and entertainment are included in the price. The resort is rated 4.5 stars out of 5, and has a ton of positive reviews on web sites like tripadvisor.com

The resort is about 10 minutes walk from Playa del Carmen

The total cost for the four of us (flights included...out of Calgary) is $8,740 which we think is a pretty good deal. The problem for Heather and I is that with school, we ALWAYS end up having to go during the high season...and therefore end up paying "top dollar" for trips. For example, if we could leave one week later, the price of this exact same trip drops $400 per person! Oh well, such is life, and there are lots of other benefits to teaching that more than make up for this.

As always, there will be numerous other sundry costs (even going the all-inclusive route)...i.e. the travel shots (about $400 for all of us), getting to and from Calgary, getting Jordyn down from Saskatoon etc.....and that does not include the other "little extras", such as some new bathing suits (Heather informed me that she is buying a new bathing suite for the trip....which means that she will now have 1,214 bathing suites instead of just the 1,213 she currently owns).

The resort sounds awesome, we know the area is beautiful (see some of the pictures below), it should be hot and sunny, everyone has all their travel shots (Hep A&B), we have our passports etc etc......now, all we have left to do is anxiously count down the days until we leave!

The Mayan Riviera is well known as one of the places with the most beautiful beaches in the world

College Photo Album - Final Copy

This photo slideshow created with Smilebox

Wrap up!

Wrap up!

Well, I have now been back in Canada for a few days, and it is already hard to believe that I was in China less than a week ago!

Jet lag has not been that big of an issue. I have had to take 2 or 3 afternoon naps (each lasting about 3 hours!) but all in all, I seem to be fine, and am getting back into the "Canadian groove"?  

Overall, it was an awesome trip and a fantastic experience! I am fortunate to have been given this opportunity and am thankful to my family for putting up with my absence for a month, the student’s in China for putting up with two Canadian/English speaking only instructors, my various Chinese, MHC and foreign teacher "hosts and guides".....and finally both MHC and E&A College for putting together this teaching program – I certainly will never forget “China 2011”!  

Tuesday, June 28th - Last Day in Beijing......

Tuesday was my last day in Beijing......and therefore I will simply continue on with the list of the venues I visited.....

6. The 798 Art District - this was surprisingly VERY cool!!! 

- This little community is considered modern Chinese Art’s premier zone, and is located on a former factory site. The factory has been converted into numerous little galleries, boutiques, restaurants and shops. I spent several hours wandering around this area.

7. Ancient observatory – it is kind of laughable to have any "star gazing places" in Beijing these days because you would need the Hubble telescope to see through the haze, but this was a cool little place to visit right close to the hotel....and for 10RMB you can take a quick tour of this ancient China astronomy.

8. Ritan Park

This is the oldest park in Beijing dating back to 1530 and is located in Beijing's diplomatic quarter. It was a great place to recharge and grab a beer at a nice little bar located on a pretty little lake.

9. The Embassy Area

This is an area within the city that contains most of the various countries embassy's. It was neat to simply walk around and see them (Canada's embassy is not located in this area....I think we are just to "new" a country to have secured some land when all the countries were staking their building sites!)

10. The Dongeuy Temple - This temple is located near Ritan park, and is an active place of worship for Taoist monks. It was a strange place - where they had all these little rooms that represented different Taoist departments - like the Department for Wandering ghosts, the Life and Death Department, the Department of Good Fortune etc. etc......it was weird, but really interesting!!!!

While I have seen quite a few "temples", this is one that is "a must see" in my books.

11. The Front Gate – this is technically really two gates, and was the largest gate of the nine gates that were around the Beijing“inner city” wall. This is at the very South end of Tienanmen Square and was part of the city’s defense system. Not much to see, but great for "pictures"

....and lastly, just all the various sites located in, around and all over the city!!!!!

Other than the unbearable heat, the other main difference versus my first trip to Beijing was that there also seemed to be more people this time around (if that is possible?).

I think the tourist season had really gotten into full swing, and at a number of the popular/well known attractions there were tons of tour buses, which of course just adds to the mass of people....

...and maybe it was the heat, or the crush of people.....or more likely just the fact that I really was ready to come home, but I did not enjoy the city as much this time around. It was great to see everything and the amount of history present in the city is mind-boggling...but I could tell (especially on Tuesday)...that it was time to catch a plane!

Sunday, June 26th and Monday, June 27th - Beijing (again)!

Sunday June 26^th to Monday June 27^th – Beijing

Sunday morning the college provided a driver and car to take me the 3 hours back into Beijing. My plan was to tour around the city for a few days prior to leaving for home. There were a number of sites that I was not able to catch on my first trip into the city, and I hoped to be able to see these before I left China.

I checked into the same hotel - Howard Johnson's Hotel Paragon. And then, just like my first trip to Beijing.....I put on my backpack, grabbed my camera and water and headed out.

This meant I was starting out at about 2:30-3pm in the afternoon. This was a big mistake because Beijing was f'ing hot!!!!! It was 37 degrees, humid and muggy. It was also pretty hot during my first visit earlier in June, but the extra 5 or 6 degrees made it crazy hot this time. After a couple of hours hiking around, I had:

A) completely sweated through all my clothes.....including my underwear (I was not going to mention this in public, but thought I might as well tell it like it is...so yes, Claude, after a couple of days of this it looked like I might have to start using Heather's underwear after all!).

B) bought and drank 3 big bottles of water...in fact I was so thirsty, I had no interest in drinking beer....just water (how dangerous is that)!!!!

C) ....think I got a bit of heat stroke, as I did not feel very good that first night.

This kind of changed my plans a bit, because it was pretty clear that I was going to have to stay at the hotel, or at bare minimum in some air conditioned place during the late afternoons

...however, having said this, over the next 2 and half days, I did manage to hit all the places I had hoped to! These sites, included (no David Letterman top 10 this time...just more of a "list"):

1.       The Ming City Wall Ruins Park (and Southeast Corner Watchtower and Red Gate Gallery) - I loved these places! They are not mentioned much in the guide books....but it was one of the best things I saw/visited while in Beijing?

Most of the Ming City Wall was leveled in the mid-50's to make way for the train tracks, roads, and developments, which is kind of unfortunate.....and this 2km stretch/park is all that is left of the original fortification. 

The Ming Wall was also called the inner city wall, and was originally 40 km in length and protected the city during the Ming dynasty. The really cool thing about this modern day park/site/restored wall section is that in some parts you can see bullet holes in the wall...and at the Southeast Corner Watchtower you can see graffiti scratched into the wall by the allied forces when they attacked and overran Beijing during the boxer rebellion in the early 1900's.

The Red Gate Gallery is also specifically mentioned in the tourist material...but I found this gallery to be less than underwhelming...and not even worth the 10rmb it cost to go in.

The Tower is really impressive! It has lots of archer's windows, and inside is beautiful with huge red pillars and lots of fancy "architecture".

2.       Chairman Mao’s Memorial Hall and Tomb – Mao died in 1976, and the Chinese constructed this memorial hall on the Southern side of Tienanmen Square shortly after that...and even though it could be argued that he did as many bad things for China as good, he is definitely revered!

His mummified corpse is also here and thousands of people (including me) lined up for hours to walk through and view his body (which is kind of weird....and morbid). No pictures allowed in here...in fact you can not even bring a bag in!

3.       The Bird’s Nest, Water Cube and Olympic Village site – all of which are well known venues from the 2008 Olympic Summer Games.  To see inside the birds nest was fairly expensive (in terms of Chinese - 100rmb) but I think it was worth it.

4.       Temple of Heaven Park – This is a HUGE park (297 hectares) south of the train station (near the Pearl market), and is not so much a "temple" as a place where the emperor and empresses came to pray for good crops....with various building, altars etc. These buildings all have specific purposes - for example Imperial Vault of Heaven, Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest, the animal killing pavilion etc. etc.

5.       Went back to the Silk Market and Pearl Markets for more haggling/buying!!!!

The funny part of this visit is that I went to buy some more watches as gifts...I paid 30rmb MORE per watch than the first time (130rmb versus 100 on my first visit earlier in June). You'd think you'd get better at negotiating, not worse!

In my defence, this time the girl cried. I am not kidding, she started crying and saying that I was wasting her time and was not being fair. This of course made me feel like crap, and I agreed to her higher price.

However.....it was more than a bit suspicious because once I agreed to the higher price, and paid it....she miraculously stopped crying....and I really knew I got played when she gave me her card and said if I wanted more watches - NOT to negotiate with anyone else, and go directly to her booth!

This was not a good sign that I had negotiated a real hard ball deal!!!!!

Fashion Expert Interview Article!

As promised in my previous posting regarding the school paper interview...here is the copy of "my interview" that will be published in the college's English speaking newspaper regarding MY take (hahaha) on Canadian Fashion.

P.S. Heather told me that Ottawa was NOT the fashion capital of Canada, rather Montreal or Toronto were so I got a hold of them and told them that. Some of the other stuff...not sure what to say (for example I do not even know what they mean by cowboy suit?) I was not sure what to do....so I just agreed with them.

Anyway, hard hitting journalism at it's best - enjoy!

Interview

EC: Hi, Gallan.

G: Hi, you guys!

EC: 2011 is known as the year of the rabbit. Since rabbits eat vegetables, green is known as its main symbol color. Rabbits are also very cute, and can be associated with a color like pink. These are then believed to be two of the more popular colors in Chinese fashion this year. What's the popular color in Canada this year?

G: Well, different people seem to wear clothes with different colors, but traditionally the majority of young students often wear blue jeans.

EC: Many girls in our colleges have the hair style, which is like a stone. What hair style do Canadian female students have? Do they usually go to the barbershops to design their hair styles?

G: I am not real sure what the current hairstyle is, but I think most of the young girls like to wear ponytails. Some of the boys go to barbershops, but I think most of the student’s go to hair salons (which are kind of like a fancy barbershop). Not many students go to get their hair curled; more often they go to get it cut.

EC: As far as I can see, "Fashion" is not only designed to the young but also to the old.  How do the old treat the fashion?

G: Oh, I think fashion is mostly related to the young. Older people do not buy many new clothes and are usually not concerned about style. Older people in Canada usually buy clothes when their old stuff wears out or needs replacing.  We don't think it is necessary to by something new just to be fashionable.

EC: Wow.... As we all know, the capital of Canada is Ottawa. It's one of the most beautiful cities all over the world. Are there some special fashion element?

G: Well, Ottawa is a government town, but it is not necessarily the fashion center. Actually, Montreal or maybe Toronto is felt to the main fashion centers for Canada….but I think blue jeans remain very popular with young buyers.

EC: OK. Some fashion is how you look or what you wear, but I think something like reading books can also be a form of fashion, it has inner wisdom. What's your opinion about it?

G: Yeah... I like reading all kinds of books and I'll show you some.

EC: It is also accepted that coffee is a symbol of fad in food field. Do you think so?

G: Yes, I do. In Canada, many people drink coffee. I know most mornings I usually drink a cup of coffee.

EC: Well, in different ages, the fashion is different. In China, in the war age, the fad was army and weapon. In the peace age, the fad is sports activities. Furthermore, in 2008, the fad was Olympic wear. Can you give us some examples of fad in Canadian different ages?

G: I can try, but it seems to change a lot. For example, in 2006, the clothes were big. People wore oversize pants, and big T-shirts, and then later they went to skinny jeans and tighter shirts. It's the style of that period of time. However, I’m not sure what it is now, it seems to change all the time.

EC: We know you are a teacher of Medicine College. Is there some fashion element at your college?

G: Most students seem to wear lots of different styles; I don’t think there are any rules that limit students' clothes, so they usually wear what they like.

EC: Nowadays, young people like to wear cowboy suits. And they think it looks like more capable and relaxed. Do you like it? What's more, some girls like to put bowknots on their clothes, just be fit for their characters.

Is there the same phenomenon in Canada?

G: Yes, I love cowboy suit. Even in college, some boys wear them. As for girls, some might have many rings on the noses or ears. Lots of them seem to dress to suit their own character.

EC: It's quite a lot. Thanks for accepting our interview.

G: You’re welcome, thanks for coming.

Saturday, June 26th - Last Day in Qinhuangdao

Saturday, June 26^th – Last day in Qinhuangdao

Saturday was officially my last day in Qinhuangdao. In the morning I went downtown for Breakfast (to McDonald’s again...still craving that stupid Egg McMuffin). The good news is that this time I was successful, and finally got my Egg McMuffin fix taken care of! I also walked around downtown for a while, and then headed back to the college to give my room a good cleaning and to finish packing.

This took a good 3 hours, because:

a)      I had not really cleaned the place AT ALL during my five weeks there
b)      There is a fine coating of coal dust that kind of covers everything – and once you start wiping/cleaning one thing, it shows the “difference”, and forces you to wipe down/clean everything.
c)       I also did a number of loads of laundry – and tried to get all my clothes clean before leaving for Beijing

For supper, I went to a Korean BBQ with the Li’s and David and his wife. This meal was really cool and again the tastes/flavours and various dishes are just outstanding....plus it is so helpful to go with locals who know what (and how) to order. I know one thing for sure; I certainly ate well while I was in China (again - pictures are below).