Pictures!

Enough complaining from you all! We didnt have a good enough internet in Cairo to upload pictures. =P

Here they are:

Riding camels to the Pyramids!!

Giza Pyramids!

In front of the Sphinx and the Pyramid of Khufu

Right outside the Phillae temple

Phillae Temple

Abu Simbel

Hmm...I think it says "Celtics fans not welcome"..

And now for my favorite part...the felucca!! We literally went on three felucca rides, for probably a total of something like 24 hours on the Nile

This was the most epic ride. We rode that from Aswan to Edfu...a total of some 20 hours or something. Slept overnight on it (was ridiculously cold) and had three meals on it. loooooved it.

Good news is that my tax refund hit my account yesterday...and all of that is immediately going into my "jason wants a sailboat fund". Donations accepted!

We got into Geneva today...a quaint little city, but seems a little boring. Tour of the UN tomorrow!

Poor Mexico

I am forever annoyed at the Egyptian government for putting their visa right over my Mexico stamps...even though I have other blank pages! Who does that!?

Perhaps angry residuals from Egypt's involvement in the Mexican War?

Oh the plane and off to Geneva! Yay Suisse! I hear they have great banks.

Baksheesh?

Just took my first shower in four days...and it felt glorious! =)

Yesterday was quite epic...woke up at 3 am for a 6 hour bus ride there and back to abu simbel. Came back and was immediately herded (I can't stress that word enough...think like sheep...or lemmings) onto a felucca (sailboat) to Luxor that we shared with five others: a canadian guy, a portuguese guy, a danish guy, and a french couple. The ride was glorious! We sailed for around six hours, taking in the beautiful scenery and having lunch and dinner prepared for us on the boat...totally living the dream. It was during this time between naps that I shamelessly entertained materialistic daydreams of one day owning a sailboat (please don't judge)...but man, that would be quite the chick-magnet, no?

At night our captains anchored us onto shore where we met another boat filled with a lot of Brits. They were really cool and got a campfire going. We all just hung around it, had some sheesha going and just chatted and listened to our felucca captains play drums and sing. Twas a very chill night.

Now we're in Luxor and off to explore the Valley of Kings and Queens tomorrow (ie tomb raiding)!

The Nile

I'm sailing on a sailboat along the Nile River right now. The sun is setting, there is a gentle breeze and the only thing you can hear is the sound of the water lapping against the boat. This is incredible...

Yay for mobile blogging!

Its been a little hard to get internet access in Egypt so far, but now that I've fixed my phone, I can mobile blog! I feel important as I'm doing this...like Kobe blogging for Cina.com, but I guess without the fat contract...yet

Currently on a sleeper train from Cairo to Aswan, and I must say after our experiences in sleeper trains, ours right now is pretty fricken nice (and twice as expensive). We have two foldout bunk beds, our own room, sink, and free dinner and breakfast.

Yesterday was epic! After a late night nile cruise with belly dancing and sufi dancing (the belly dancer was all sorts of scary...pics to come). Dan and I woke up early and rode camels for a few hours around the Great Pyramids in Giza and the Sphinx. Very very incredible! altho my butt hurts like no other (twss). Then afterwards we went to Saqqara and Memphis. We've resorted to just hiring drivers and scheduling stuff through our hostel because its near impossible to get around here on your own...which is annoying bc they know it too and can thus charge you an arm and leg for everything.

So partly because of the recent political situation in Egypt and the Middle East and partly because I think this would be more fun, I've decided to assume a fake identity here and pretend I'm canadian (those of you who know me know how big of a step this is for me). Here's my story:

I was born in 1985 in Thunderbay, Canada, a quaint little town on Lake Huron. When I was six, we moved to Temple City near Los Angeles in California because my parents began to manage wedding studios along Las Tunas Drive (business was good back then). I attended San Gabriel Christian School. When I was around fourteen though, my parents looked at my high school options, namely Temple City High School and was like nooooope you're moving back to Canada. So for four years I lived in Scarborough, Ontario where I attended West High Collegiate Institute, home of the fighting Warriors (with Wolfie the Wolf). I studied hard, got into a good school in the states, Penn, where I met Dan in my freshman year suite at Hill. We immediately bonded over Canada...ketchup chips, hockey, 'aboot' and 'eh', and Celine Dion (I shudder as I write this), and the rest is history...

=D

Qatar?!?

so we're randomly in Doha for a 6 hour layover. and dan and i are still trying to fathom that, yes, we're actually in Qatar... of all places in the world.

i mean its a great city (from what we've seen from the airport windows, and i think we're definitely experiencing the culture and especially the food (again, at least in the airport). it kinda reminds me of that one time i was in Taiwan for 5 hours for a layover. i think i got to know Taiwan pretty well then...so there's no need to actually visit, right? (let me pause for a second for our Taiwanese readers to collect their thoughts and send me angry e-mails)


...


anyways. here's a pic of dan drinking some arabic coke zero


and here's a pretty sweet sunrise in Doha that we saw as we left the airplane


Also, there are very few comments on our blog. We are not particularily happy about this. Dan and I are threatening to boycott blogging unless we receive more comments. =P

tongyi vs kangshifu ... we settle this once and for all

those of you who know me know that I am completely addicted to the bottled 绿茶 (lucha). its basically what i lived off of during my time in Beijing, and its what I miss most in the states because they are literally nowhere to be found.

the two main brands that provide this amazing beverage are 统一 (tongyi) and 康师傅 (kangshifu), and it is pretty evident that all throughout China, they basically share the market. you'll see some cities, such as Xian, that are completely kangshifu territory, and you'll see other cities, such as Chengdu, where tongyi pretty much dominates. Furthermore, you'll also see other larger cities such as Beijing and Shanghai where the market seems to be equally split. its pretty epic, and it seems as if these two brands have been wrestling for marketshare for ages (think Pepsi vs. Coke)

now i'm pretty partial to tongyi, but i really respect kangshifu because they seem to be the much larger brand, and i have also noticed their immense presence in the states...providing americans with great products such as ramen, chips,drinks and other delectable goodies. i've been a mad follower of the tongyi brand green tea, but i decided that once and for all i should actually sit down and compare the two brands to ensure that i was actually drinking the better tasting beverage. and so, ladies and gentlemen, may i present to you my official (and objective) review of these two drinks:

Here are the candidates:


From left to right:
Tongyi - Organic Green Tea (dark horse? saw this new version at the store and was immediately interested...we'll see how it fares against the big boys)
Tongyi - Green Tea
Kangshifu - Green Tea


First up: Tongyi - Organic Green Tea
This version of the classic green tea was quite a surprise. I literally ran across it at a 7-11 in Shenzhen and immediately was curious. Who knows, if this dark horse candidate is good enough, it may supplant the original as the newest and greatest form of green tea.

When i first tried a sip of this tea, i was immediately disgusted. It was pretty bitter and sharp...and nothing like the classic. After a few more sips, however, i realized that tongyi was just trying to create a form of tea that tasted more like real green tea, and not like its sweetened cousin. With that in mind, I realized that this form could not really compare with the other two and thus was immediately removed from the competition. It wasn't a bad drink, but it was just like comparing apples to oranges...no contest.



Result: "Weird but respectable taste...nothing like what I had expected"
Next up: Tongyi - Green Tea
This was the classic. I once drank about two liters of this magical liquid everyday in Beijing. It was just that good. Putting aside my history with this incredible beverage, I maintained objectivity throughout this test and approached it like i would any other drink. But i just could not stop myself. From the moment the liquid hit my lips, I could taste the bold, yet subtle taste of the tea, with just the right amount of sugar that left you feeling completely refreshed and satisfied. it was incredible...my taste buds were screaming with pleasure and i felt a sense of euphoria as the it flowed through my mouth (twss). total bliss.



Result: *long long sigh of content...*
And our final contender: Kangshifu - Green Tea
After cleansing my palette with some water and Frutips, i set out to test out our final contender, the infamous Kangshifu. it had some big shoes to fill, but i was confident that this drink would put up a respectable showing. ...i could not have been more wrong.

on my first sip, i was immediately taken aback by the weakness of the flavor. it tasted incredibly diluted and very...wimpy (for a lack of better words). furthermore, it left a slightly bitter aftertaste that made me cringe and shiver with displeasure. certain that this may have been a mistake, i attempted once again to take in this drink. ...and this time it nearly sent me rushing towards the toilet bowl to puke it all up. i was immediately reminded of that barfing scene from family guy and realized how i could never laugh at that anymore because...well...i totally felt their pain.. i just simply could not take anymore of this atrocious drink.



Result: "please make it stop...please..."
And so the winner: Tongyi - Green Tea

yeah baby.
now if i could only find a way to bring it to the states...

Yangshuo = Coolest place on earth

Guilin was a nice city, but Yangshuo totally blew our minds away. It was a great mix of small-townness and epic scenery--with rolling green mountains, beautiful rivers, and lots and lots of water buffalos!

So we ditched Guilin pretty fast (its become way too commercialized) and took the Li River cruise down to Yangshuo


It was pretty epic, with sweeping views of crazy mountains along the river...but nothing could compare to Yangshuo. As soon as we got in, we rented bikes and went along this crazy ride through the countryside that weaved through the mountains and passed by many farms (and of course, water buffalos).


But the coolest part of the day was when we climbed Yueliang Shan (Moon Mountain).


We got to the top of that peak...and from up there, the views were just ridiculously incredible!






this is for my girls back home. yes, that is a tube of Fruitips =)


quite literally felt like i was on top of the world

the next day, Dan and I took a zhufa (bamboo raft) down yulong river right next to yangshuo. it was two hours, so we kicked back, took in the amazing scenery, and shared a couple of beers (talk about a bromantic date)






such a beer advertisement, haha

and then the best part...

we were biking back and decided to take a scenic route (aka a dirt path off the main road). it turned out to be incredible! it was like through the farms and houses....and one lady flagged us down and let us take pictures with her...

WATER BUFFALO!!!


i've decided that i want one! like seriously i want one in the backyard of my future house.

Anybody remember this song?? (i know Diana does)

生煎包!!

It's fairly common knowledge that ultimately there are only two kinds of people on the world: those who love Beijing and those who love Shanghai.

Without a doubt I consider myself as a member of the former group. Beijing is just so much cooler. It has a long and storied history, it has culture, and of course, it has kaoya. Shanghai, on the other hand (and in my humble opinion), is way too westernized and as a result...has no soul (I mean that in the nicest way possible, of course).

That being said, however, I must dedicate this post to something incredible I encountered in Shanghai that has completely changed my life...

生煎包!! (shengjianbao!!)

It all started while i was wandering around nanjinglu in Shanghai and complaining to Ms. 奇奇 about just how Shanghai was too modern, western and clean for me (the last reason in particular bothered me the most). She then directed me to this side alley completely packed with food stands and told me to seek out this particular stand that was known for its baos (dumplings), claiming that "this should be dirty enough for you" (twss). I was really skeptical at first. I don't mean to brag, but I am quite the dumpling master (some could argue that i go so far as to resemble one too...but that's a whole different story)...and i've seen and tried all sorts and types of dumplings in my time. I know dumplings, and so i was certain i would not find something that would impress me all that much. OH MY GOD WAS I WRONG.


Here is the famous "YANG' SFRY DUMPLING" stand. Weirdly enough there are two of them side by side, and to show how ridiculously popular these are, there were literally 15 minute lines coming out of BOTH of them


These dumplings have changed my life. They are just that incredible. The meat is so tender and juicy, the skin is so fresh and at times crunchy, and it is covered in sesame seeds and drenched in an egregious amount of what probably is the most unhealthiest oil ever. I've been in Shanghai only about 30 hours...I've already gone there twice and I fully intend to get some more for breakfast tomorrow morning before our flight out. They are just that addicting.

Score one for Shanghai.

Huangshan!!

I climbed Huangshan!!

All my life i've seen many Chinese 山水 (shan shui) paintings of epic mountaintops with sheer cliffs and sharp edges...teetering on top of the world and surrounded by a beautiful haze. And all my life i've always discounted them as something rather mythical...just a figment of some painter's imagination and not truly real. After climbing Huangshan, i can say with certainty that these paintings, amazing as they are, don't even come close to representing how special this mountain really is.

I started on this climb around 7:00 AM (unfortunately Dan couldn't join me because he wasn't feeling all too well). Oh and by "climb" i only mean ascending many steep stairs (try an imagine an eternal stairmaster). It was supposed to take about 10 hours...a 3 hour ascent (more like 20 min if you took the cablecar, but i wouldn't be caught dead going up in a cablecar) and around 7 hours for the summit/descent. Not wanting to be caught in the dark, I rushed it to the top in a little over 2 hours (the half mthon training earlier this year paid off =P). It was kind of like Emei Shan (another mountain I've climbed in China) except that because of the weather, there was more and more snow as I neared the top....which made it a pretty annoying ascent, because all of the steps were covered in ice...so you had to be super careful not to slip and fall (which happened a few times...and resulted in a very very sore butt).

As I neared the top, everything just became INCREDIBLE. the sights were breathtaking....it was without a doubt one of the most beautiful places i've ever been to my life! so even as i was huffing and puffing, i was all in smiles as i charged up the mountain because i just could not believe that i was actually here in Huangshan. And what was more exciting was that everyone around me was just as happy to be here...you could hear random Chinese tourists scream in Chinese "I'm in Huangshan!!" The atmosphere was ridiculous.


the steps up

Sadly the pictures don't do justice to just how incredible the views were, but here are some:








These next two pictures gives you a sense of the immense scale of these rock formations, see if you can find the line of people climbing up:


^^ This part in particular i literally thought i was going to die. there's only a narrow and incredibly steep ascent through these rocks. on top of that, all of the steps were literally covered in ice. there were no guiderails on the sides, so i literally was afraid that if i slipped, i would have fallen quite a ways down


Chinese people can also be really nice!...that is once you get pass a lot of the grunting, spitting, and pushing around that you often encounter. I met some pretty nice people along my climb up. The first was this chinese tour guide that I chatted with for at least a half hour. Upon discovering that i was up there alone, he actually asked if i wanted to join his tour group...which i thought was really nice of him. This dude also probably saved my life. After hearing that i wanted to descend the mountain by foot, his response was along the line of 'uh...you're crazy. everything is frozen and iced up, you're going to slip and die...take the cable car down instead' .. and so i did...i figured that taking it down was a little more acceptable. I also met these two girls from Chengdu that were on vacation. I hiked with them a bit and we switched off helping each other take pictures, they also asked me if i wanted to join them check out another mountain afterwards...which again was te bie re qing of them.

Huangshan is really really special, and it was such an awesome experience climbing it. literally everytime i turned around gazed along the horizon, it would take my breath away. there were sooo many times i screamed out "holy #$%$* this is SO beautiful!" Everybody needs to add this mountain to the list of places they need to see before they die, because it is just that incredible.

can we go to the bell tow... no? ok then

On the train back from Xi'an ... Wait I just realized we never mentioned that. I wanna say three days ago we took an overnight train to Xi'an to see the terracotta warriors. After getting into town and being swarmed by tourguides we made our way onto a bus. It was definitely destined for the warriors, but insisted on making some interesting local stops on the way. One man came on with three or four sacks of sweet potatoes but decided he wanted off before the next stop. A woman at one stop was showering/brushing her teeth in a brick bathroom that was once indoors but was now clearly indoors. All in all the warriors were pretty epic.


After getting back into town we made our way to a Muslim restaurant and, not being able to order, pointed at things until they brought us some ridiculously good beef with fried sesame bread. The sheer caloric goodness was unfathomable.

After that we rented bikes and drove around the city walls (still covered in old parade floats/decorations from something) before our overnight sleeper back to Beijing.



Sorry Nanjing, you were cut so fast, lol. We were both tired and needed some serious Kro's nest/sleep/trek in our lives. That part of the itinerary was dropped but it was totally worth it for another day in Beijing!

Oh.. and I don't know what this is but I loves it. Reward for any info!

Speaking of yaks, do they ever know how to dance

lie the tiger to steal the dragon

we got into huangshan shi at around 7 o'clock this morning after a 20 hour train ride (pause for a second and let that sink in)... yes...20 hours. but its okay, it wasn't too bad. note the spacious living quarters.


i mainly just went on an epic trek marathon, watched 'forgetting sarah marshall' (for the 4th time...) and read a bit. but before getting too sidetracked, i must reiterate again that Beijing is freaking awesome, and we had such an amazing stay there. i'm not sure what it is about that city...but i absolutely love it.

*Dan's note* It may be the overwhelming abundance of Yak, which is just delish. Do not, however, ever consume Tibetan butter tea. Sorry, Tibet, no dice!


currently blogging from a internet cafe in huangshan!

Some quick shoutouts to some peeps who made our visit to Beijing just that much better:

Anthony - Thanks for an amazing time, cuz! You were the best host evar and we had just a ridiculous amount of fun. Am going to miss you man. Come back soon so we can ktv it up and watch some more laker games! Dan says "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra and sorry I ate half of your almonds in two days..."


Chi-chi - I guess it was alright meeting you...I guess, you know it takes a lot to impress me, you know, so...I guess it was fine... =P (BTW ...I still CANNOT believe you didn't think that that igloo thing we saw at 798 was the coolest thing EVER. It totally changed my life! And I now really want one. What the HECK is wrong with you?)

Ruby - Okay so we honestly would have been absolutely lost without any of your help. Thanks for pretty much knowing everything about Beijing ...oh and being able to speak Chinese! (that definitely saved our butts) Now study hard and learn how to order some tacos and burritos. See you next year??

P.S. I want a copy of your book once you compile all of your scandals. -Dan

Calvin - You are the man. And you are also my hero. Thanks for lunch, and keep up the amazing NGO work, bro. Please visit me next time when you're around town so I can have an excuse to go to you know wheres ;)

Okay so...some memorable moments so far...

As we were walking to Bellagio (a dessert place near worker's stadium) two nights ago, we came across some street venders. As usual, we kind of strayed away and ignored them...until one guy started shouting out english in a bad accent: "drinks? cigarettes? magazines? ... do you want gay sex?" ....and then we ran away. quite possibly the most hilarious thing i have ever heard!!!

the man, the legend, the potato chip model


So today, we hired a private driver to take us around some epic huangshan waterfalls (which were incredibly beautiful...with the classic huangshan fog and light flurries of snow...pictures to come!). But yeah, near the end of our trip, our driver took us to this place where "we could drink some tea for free". Of course this sounded cool and all...but as soon as I walked into the door, I knew exactly what was going to happen. For those who don't know, literally everytime you travel in china with a tour, they're going to shove you into some kind of store (tea, silk, jade...you name it) where they'll give you free samples and ask you to buy something. so as soon as we entered this tea shop, this lady takes us into a private room and starts pouring us some tea. She then goes into this huuuuuge sales pitch, and even though i told her many times that i didn't really understand what she was saying, she kept going on and on about how these teas were so amazing and how they could cure practically anything. Of course I don't want to be rude, so i just listen to her and nod my head and smile (even though absolutely everything she's saying is going way over my head). After 5 minutes of nonstop pitching, she finally stops and says to me "maybe you should translate to your friend". At this point i'm thinking "uhhhhh........" So i look over at Dan and i have absolutely no idea what to say, so i start blabbering "Oh hey dude, the Lakers won today. It was pretty sweet, they beat San Antonio in the final minutes...which is like the 2nd best team in the west". Dan smiles and nods. I look over to our tea lady, she smiles and nods, and then continues to keep talking about her teas. This continues for like an hour...and Dan and I literally have this lengthy conversation about sports, girls, and other random things throughout this whole time, while the poor tea lady is thinking that we're meticulously discussing the quality of her teas.

Finally near the end of her pitch, she starts talking about the prices of the teas and how we should buy some. The conversation literally goes like this

Tea Lady: "So you should really think about buying this tea...its really good for you and it'll help you deal with stress and hardships"
Me: "I'm really sorry, but we don't have room for this"
Tea Lady: "Oh how about this one then, its in a smaller container and its really good for ladies. You should get one for your girlfriend"
Me: "I'm really sorry, we really don't want any"
Tea Lady: "Please, you should get this one, get it as a souvenir for your girlfriend"
Me: "I don't have a girlfriend"
Tea Lady: "That's no problem, get one for your mother then!"
Me: "We seriously don't want any, I'm so sorry"
Tea Lady: "Please just buy some...help me out. You're my only customer today..."
Me: "I'm so so sorry, but we really don't want some"
Tea Lady: "Please help me out..."
Me: "Okay...uh...can we go now?"

and then we slowly inched our way out the room.....VERY AWKWARD.

An epic 10 hour climb up and down huangshan awaits us tomorrow, so we gotta rest up tonight. Will post some pictures as soon as we can get internet access in a hostel!

near nine dragons waterfall

Beijing-ing

Can't promise that...


Semi-violent cousin love.


And finally ... The next revolution in shoe design.