All soju aside, the next morning we all got an early start - they woke up at 4 AM! I joined in around 5 and we out in the kitchen and caught up for a few hours before we had breakfast. We left Tony to catch up on some sleep while we hiked to the top of Victoria's Peak. It was a spectacular clear day and we took some great shots along the way up tot he Peak. There we met
a nice family from Miami who, to Daddy's dismay, offered up some very great shopping information for Mommy & I while we were in Beijing. After our climb, we made our way back to the apartment to pick up Tony and then headed down to Stanley Market. They bought a bunch of silk bags and pashminas for all of dad's secretaries for Christmas. After browsing through the shops for a while, we had a great lunch at the Boathouse restaurant - a bucket of mixed seafood (shrimp, clams, mussels) in a white wine parsley broth, along with wine for the girls and beer for the boys. We walked out on the water and stopped by the beach. The sky was crystal clear and I dare say we were sweating! Not like winter here in Hong Kong at all, huh?
After Stanley, it was time to head back into town for a relaxing massage. Mom & I opted for the classic foot massage while Dad decided on the back massage. I nearly fell asleep, but I am pretty sure Dad was fully passed out because when we finally sat up after the massage ended, he looked quite relaxed. The people at the foot massage place were very excited to have us there, they figured out we were a family and said that we looked alike. Yea, we all look alike to them. That evening we showered up and went out in Soho for some delicious Thai / Vietnamese food. We had found a Jazz bar earlier that day on our way home from the hike and we stopped in to hear a few sets, even though we had a very full day at that point having been going since 4 AM. The main guy was a sax player from NYC and he played along with a guitar, bass, key board and drummer. They were very good except for the singing which even though were all classic jazz songs, we could hardly understand the words.
The next morning we slept in and made breakfast at our apartment before making the journey over to Lantau Island to see the Big Buddha and the Po Lin Monastery. It is about an hour and a half journey there from our apartment but it gave them a chance to ride the subways of Hong Kong. There we hiked up to see Buddha and then took a walk in the woods for a while before heading back to pack up our final items for our evening flight to Beijing. The best part of it all was that when we got to the airport, they upgraded all four of us to Business Class for no apparent reason at all! The flight was over booked, and Tony and I have some status on Cathay now, but it was a very pleasant surprise making our meal and travel for the evening very very nice.
We stayed at the Beijing International Hotel which was a only a 
short walk from The Forbidden City so we decided that would be our destination for the first day in town. For nearly 5 centuries, the Forbidden City was the home of the Emperor and as such, no one but them and their servants were allowed inside. Now there is a Palace Museum with ancient relics and you can tour through many of the almost 9000 rooms. There is also a beautiful garden in the back with great rock formations. After the Forbidden City, we walked across the street to Tienanmen Square. I totally remember all the students who were slaughtered there for promoting democracy back in 1989 as one of the few historical events I can recall from my childhood, so it 
was very interesting to be able to be there live. The square is sprawling, much larger than I pictured it. In the center is a Monument to the People's heroes as well as the Mausoleum of good old Mao. We tried to go inside to check up on his carcass but you were not allowed to bring in any bags or anything and we didn't feel comfortable leaving them on the street with strangers, so we just said hello from afar....plus even after all these years, there was a mega long line to get inside, not necessary. Instead we opted for lunch!
We crossed the street and found a warm place to eat. We had all decided we really wanted soup and so we were thrilled to find these volcano-like steaming pots on everyones tables as we 
walked into the restaurant. Somehow we ordered some stuff and began the fun. We got a basket of mixed veggies including Chinese cabbage, lettuce and mushrooms, we got peeled prawns, and also some barley noodles. The soup we put inside we very spicy at first but then as it cooked down more, it was very delicious. Apparently you just take the stuff and dip it in the soup and wait for it to wilt / cook and then eat it. It was very fun and very delicious. We walked around the city for a while after lunch in search of some mixers to go with our newly purchased duty free bottle of vodka and finally wound up back at our hotel in the late afternoon. Tony contacted a gentleman he knows who is living in China and is responsible for the pharmaceuticals here to find out the name of a good duck restaurant that he had brought Tony to when he was last in Beijing. His name is Mr. Gu, and he became very instrumental in the rest of our stay in his city. 
He hooked us up with reservations at Duck King, very close by our hotel. We feasted on shark's fin soup which is a Chinese delicacy which is usually served at very important banquets. We also of course got ourselves a big Peking Duck. The duck was served with wraps (like fajitas) which would would fill with the duck, cucumber, plum sauce, garlic and scallions. It was wonderful. Back to the Sen Sen Mr. Wu....to say 'thank you' in Mandarin, you say xie xie which is pronounced like 'shi shi'...well, Leslie Miller kept calling it 'sen sen' instead and also kept calling Mr. Gu, Mr. Wu, so there you have it - the theme of our trip "Sen Sen Mr. Wu". Too funny.Well, Mr. Gu came through the next day as well - he sent us a Mercedes van, a driver and a 
tour guide (one of his personal assistants) to take us to the Great Wall! We had asked at the hotel for transportation and they said it would be $1300 RMB per person, which is nearly $200 for the day. Our way was much more exciting! The Great Wall was amazing. We went to a section called Badaling which was the first section of the Great Wall which was opened up to tourists. We chose the steeper path to the left and were very happy because hardly anyone else was up there. It is an amazing site, you look in both directions, over the mountains, up and down and you can see this wall which has existed for thousands of years. 
You wonder how they were able to make this thing! It was all done by humans, no machinery back then, and in total is stretches 4000 miles! This was the only place during our whole trip that we saw any snow, and it was only in a few patches on the ground hiding in the trees. Parts of the wall were very steep, and at the top of each section there is a unique watchtower where they would send smoke signals down the line to inform people of the enemy Mongolians approach. It was truly one of the most unbelievable things I have ever seen, no trip to China is complete without this visit.
After the wall, our friendly team took us to lunch before going over to the Summer Palace. We had typical Beijing cuisine which the driver took the liberty of ordering. They were kind enough to ask first if we ate 'donkey' which we promptly replied 'no'. Dad was overlooking the menu and telling us the names of things he saw, one of which was "Braised Camel's Hoof"...well, Mom misunderstood what he had said, and after being offered donkey, it could be anything! So she replies "Braised Camel's Muff? 
They have that here?" We don't think so, but anything is possible. In any event, it was another big joke for the rest of our trip : )
The Summer Palace was my favorite thing we saw in Beijing next to the Great Wall. Most famous is the large man made lake and 17 arch bridge. The lake was frozen and people were ice skating and also digging for clams out in the middle of it all. There were several structures one leading to the next winding up the hill and beautiful Chinese architecture and paintings on every wall possible. The Palace used to be the summer home of the Emperors, but if I were them, I would have lived there year round. It was beautiful to see in the winter.
After the Summer Palace, we took a spin past the Beijing National Stadium where the 2008 Summer Olympics will be held. The people in town refer to it as the Bird's Nest, and it will hold the main track and field competitions as well as 100,000 fans. It really does look like a bird's nest, but it is very beautiful all lit up at night.
That evening was Christmas Eve, so we headed out to a local Chinese restaurant close by our 
hotel called in English "The Home ly Dishes Restaurant". We had a feast! We ordered spicy fried shrimp, chicken with asparagus (but it didn't have asparagus), beef with cauliflower (but it didn't have cauliflower, it had tofu), fried rice, and special egg tarts. All in all including many beers the total bill was only $70 USD for the four of us. The chicken without asparagus was the spiciest thing we ate all week long, and here is a picture of mom & dad's fiery lips after tasting it!
So, what does one do on Christmas Day in Beijing? Go to various other religious temples of course! We started off at Lama Temple in the morning which is Tibetan Buddhism and one of 
their most important Monasteries in the world. There were many different halls for which to pray to Buddha, and many people doing so. It was very cold this day at the temple and even though some of the rooms are inside, there is no heat. We were chilled to the core! After Lama, we went over to religion number two for the day, Confucius Temple. They had a great museum chronicling the life of Confucius and weaving his teachings through the photos and stories. It was very intriguing and especially interesting how many of his teachings and sayings can be applied to modern day, even though he existed thousands of years ago, BC. He was very big on government morality, social relationships and sincerity. I did not know this, but the popular quote "do onto others as you would have done to you" is a Confucian original. It was an enlightening experience. I want a Confucius Book, he was a cool dude.
After Confucius we grabbed a quick bite at a vegetarian Chinese restaurant across the street before heading down to by far the strangest temple of the day. It was a Taoist temple called the Dong Yue Temple, where they had all these statues arranged into different "departments". For example, there was the Department of Wandering Ghosts, Department of implementing 15 kinds of violent death, Department of flying birds, Department of Timely Retribution, Department of Opposing Obscene Acts, Department of Controlling Bullying, Department of Accumulation of Justifiable Wealth...it was the craziest thing! 72 departments in total all with scary monster looking things, weird animal heads, a man with his bowels in his hands....it was so strange. We all enjoyed reading about the different departments and hoped to only go to the good ones when our judgement day arrives...the bad ones were downright frightening!
That evening, Mr. Gu and his wife invited us to Christmas dinner at a restaurant downtown. She is a stay at home doctor - a medical doctor who no longer works because Mr. Gu is so loaded, and they don't have any kids! She told us she reads during the day. We prepped Mom & Dad about what type of conversation would be appropriate and what not to talk about such as politics (although Mr. Gu said he would vote for Guiliani), Communism, and religion. Also, a short chopstick / tea pot etiquette class later they were all set to meet Mr. Wu, I mean, Mr. Gu. We had a wonderful feast including the pictures below. The first one is of a giant oyster which was cooked with fried garlic chilies and scallions, the second is a giant scallop topped with glass noodles. Delish! We also had a steamed fish which dad said was his favorite thing of the week. Somehow we got on the topic of 'mental acupuncture' - ask dad if you want to know what that is supposed to mean. Mr. Gu also told us of his fancy business associates who were all looking to invest in the USA, either buying properties or companies or maybe homes...he wasn't sure what to do yet but he was sure there would be big bucks and a big payback.
For our final day in Beijing, we decided it was finally time to shop! We first visited the Temple of Heaven which was disguised as a tourist attraction so that mom and I could hit the nearby Pearl Market! The Temple of Heaven was where the Emperor of China would perform sacrifices to 
heaven, and pray for good harvest. There were many ceremonies held here in the various rooms and the attention to detail of the ceremonies was of critical importance; anything done incorrectly or missing was considered a bad omen for the whole country for the following year.
Finally it was time to shop! Tony headed back to the hotel to check in at work and mom & I dragged dad to the Pearl Market. Four floors of glorious pearls! It was very fun. Every size, style and color you can imagine. They also had varying grades of pearls and we bought the good stuff at Fanghua on the top floor. It was most fun - I think my mom bought 20 necklaces for 
various friends and family....maybe even one for you! I cant' tell you what you got or I will ruin the surprise. Invite her for dinner and you may be lucky enough to be presented with a pearly gift : ) For our last night in Beijing, we had Mr. Gu's driver pick us up at our hotel and bring us to the fabulous Chinese Acrobatic show. They were truly talented, it was amazing what they did...everything from balancing to contortionists. One of the best acts were these 13 girls who all piled onto the rode around the stage on a single bicycle with their fans spread out like a giant peacock. The costumes, lighting and stage sets were also very good, it was a great show.
We grabbed a late dinner at the hotel the night because early the next morning we were off to Xian! Well, at least we were supposed to be off....our 7:30 AM flight didn't leave till after 11:30, so our plans for the day were partially foiled. But we made the most of it. After checking into the 
Shangri-la hotel, we booked to the city walls and did some whirlwind sight seeing before the sun set. Our first stop was to the Forest of Stone Steles museum. It is located on a small street near the southern city wall which is lined with many artists selling their wares. Xian has a whole different feel than Beijing. It was once the most important city in the world, and long ago was also the capital of China. The Museum has a collection of stone steles, or carvings, from different periods going back over 3000 years ago. OK maybe we were a little tired from our traveling at this point because we were all very amused by the following photos of 'a turtle head poking out'. Ha ha ha.
Ater the Forest of Stone Steles museum, we walked over to the center of town and climbed to the top of the Bell Tower. It was a very badly polluted day outside and it had started to drizzle at this point so we didn't have the greatest view, but what was amazing was all these huge shopping centers lining the streets leading up to the Bell Tower - juxtaposition of ancient and modern. Crazy.
We made our way toward the Muslim section of town for our last stop of the day to visit the
Great Mosque. The oldest stone tablet inside is from 742 and was a result of Islam being introduced in China by some Arab merchants during the mid-7th century. It is a blend of Muslim and Chinese architecture, with pretty gardens and a Muslim quarter has cropped up all around with Muslim folk selling their kebabs out on the street. At first we considered a kebab dinner but decided we were too cold and polluted for this so we went back to our hotel for a nice warm shower. But first dad bought some dried fruit from a street vendor - the best was the dried Kiwi fruit - very aromatic and sweet!
The next day we had arranged for a tour guide to take us over to the whole reason we ventured 
to Xian in the first place...to see the Terracotta Army! What a site! The terracotta army was created to protect the mausoleum of the first Emperor of the Qin Dynasty and to be with him in the afterlife. They were not discovered until 1974 when a Chinese farmer had been digging a well and uncovered shattered pieces of terracotta. The army which contains thousands of individually crafted figures are life size, each with different hairstyles, shoes, clothes, and weapons. The pieces were all smashed by the next emperor's regime and since the discovery Chinese archaeologists have been literally putting together the puzzle. They still have not uncovered all the locations of the soldiers and many remain buried still. After the army, we went over to a silk museum where we learned how they first discovered silk, learned about the silk making process, and when we asked what they do with the silk worms 
after they remove them from the cocoons and found out that they eat them, decided not to stay for lunch. We did in fact leave with much lighter wallets though....Tony and I bought an amazing silk quilt along with sage green and gold duvet cover and pillows; Mom & Dad bought beautiful throw pillow covers. All of the highest quality silk, it would be three times the amount in the US. No doggies on this bed, sorry Kaiser!
After our adventures in silk heaven, we stopped off at the hot springs, a natural bath where the emperors and concubines was themselves. We got to feel the natural hot water so only 1 yuan (about 12 cents). We were definitely hungry by this point and our tour guide lead us to a famous restaurant in Xian where they have a set menu of a millions different dumplings! Each one had a different filling, color, and were shaped like what was inside. For example, the little duckie dumpling had duck, the chick had chicken, the fishy dumpling had fish, and the walnut shaped one had walnuts. It was a feast! They were so pretty too, it must take them many hours to make these every morning.
After lunch we stopped back to the southern city gate for a quick climb on the city wall. Up top some crazy people were engaged in a massive game of Chinese tug-of-war...not sure what was going on there, but the view was very nice from the top of the world. We had one more sight to take in for the day which was the Great Goose Pagoda, which we affectionately were calling the Grey Goose Pagoda. Always with the vodka, what is wrong with us? Anyways, the pagoda was seven stories high, so we got our cardio in for the day. At the top was a beautiful view of the city from four corners.
Mom didn't feel very well after the dumpling feast although the rest of us were fine and hungry again at dinner time. We headed out to an all Chinese restaurant and somehow managed to order totally delicious edible things with an all Chinese menu. We are getting so good at pointing and gesturing! It was another cheap delicious meal, for only $30 USD incluing five dished plus beer!
After a lazy breakfast, we flew back to Hong Kong and spent the afternoon doing wash and getting organized again from our journeys in China. We took mom & dad out to a great restaurant called "M at the Fringe" where we had a more 'western' meal after consuming full chinese things for a whole week.For their last day in Hong Kong, we went over to the Kowloon side. We hit up the Jade Market, the Night Market, and walked around the water viewing the island from the other side. It was a beautiful clear day here and they got some great picutres of the harbor. We had a traditional dim sum lunch and walked around Tsim Sha Tsui. Then it was time to head back and pack up. For our final meal we went back to Soho for delicious Thai food followed by a walk through Lan Kwai Fong to check out the bar scene and get Ben & Jerry's. Anything but braised camels muff was good at this point!
All in all we had a great adventure complete with lots of laughs and millions of pictures. The trip was wonderful and the most amazing thing of all is the Tony survived 11 days of the Millers under the same roof....good practise for our future in Milwaukee ; ) He gets a gold star for the best behavior. But now I am the saddest! My Mommy & Daddy left me here and I am 
lonesome! Come back!
Till next time, I MISS YOU & I LOVE YOU!
I am trying to build up, so that is exciting. So my old boss is headed back to India where he will be a sales manager, and the guy who was running the Food & Beverage industry has taken over. This has meant a lot of transitioning and getting him up to speed with who our customers are and what we sell them since he is not at all familiar with our industry segment. So needless to say, I have been busy, lots of late night calls with the US account team, doing introductions, planning, etc. But it is all good. He is a very nice guy, and relatively new to Rockwell (less than 6 months) so I am happy to have him. Here is a very cute picture of my old boss's goodbye lunch - old boss is the tall India guy in the back, new boss is the short India guy in the front. Glasses, mustaches, Indians... No big whoop! 
I am trying to build up, so that is exciting. So my old boss is headed back to India where he will be a sales manager, and the guy who was running the Food & Beverage industry has taken over. This has meant a lot of transitioning and getting him up to speed with who our customers are and what we sell them since he is not at all familiar with our industry segment. So needless to say, I have been busy, lots of late night calls with the US account team, doing introductions, planning, etc. But it is all good. He is a very nice guy, and relatively new to Rockwell (less than 6 months) so I am happy to have him. Here is a very cute picture of my old boss's goodbye lunch - old boss is the tall India guy in the back, new boss is the short India guy in the front. Glasses, mustaches, Indians... No big whoop! 
And on the weekends, as usual, we have been hiking. Out biggest hike thus far was a 16 mile journey on the Maclehose Trail - we completed stages 1 and 2 of the 12 stage hike. It was great. Beautiful and scenic, wrapping us around to the beach, and only a few tortuous hills to boot up. There were even cows on the beach, a funny site indeed, except for the time I almost stepped into a steaming pile of cow poop. It was a near miss by millimeters, that would have ruined everything! 
For the end of the month, we had a quick visit from Jolene, my BFF Jamie's BFF / crazy college roommate, well I guess after 13 years she is my friend too. Jolene owns several bead stores and had come to China to purchase some beautiful things for her business. On the way back, she stopped into Hong Kong and in one very amazing day, completely single handedly turned around the Hong Kong economy...we shopped from 10:30 AM until 1:30 AM the next day! In fact, she shopped so much that between the things she bought in China and a few beads she wanted to hand carry back to the US, she had to purchase 2 (two) giant suitcases in Stanley Market! She got very nice stuff and if you are a lucky friend of hers, be sure to know that you have some great gifts coming your way. It was a marathon. I needed cocktails. But we had a great time, laughing and carrying on as usual...making best friends with the store owners who sold us our goods. On the way I bought some very cute clothes and Chinese Fortune Sticks which are just so much fun. Next time I see you I will read you your fortune...it really works.
