Category Archives: Holidays

Day 198 in Beijing: Bye Bye Beijing!

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Jill and I have left Beijing!

Well, we’ve left for a vacation, not for good, so don’t worry Beijingers!

We took off at 3:30 AM on Friday morning (Beijing time) and arrived at 10 AM Friday morning (Kuala Lumpur time, which is the same as Beijing time) and have already settled in here in Kuala Lumpur.

It was overcast when we arrived, which is a bit comical since the weather in Beijing is supposed to be terrible during the winter, but so far has been fantastic, and we are now in the tropics, where it should be perfect.  Yes, that was quite possibly the longest run on sentence, in history, but I’m on vacation, so forgive me please.  Editing, after going for a swim in the pool, is not my strong point.

We were picked up by Alan, who runs the Airbnb apartment where we are staying at, and dropped everything off at the apartment.  After doing that, he took us on a tour of the neighborhood and there are so many amazing restaurants and bars we new we were in the right place.  There is about 20 different types of restaurants serving different cuisines that we wish we were staying longer and know we will be back after being here for only 4 hours.  Alan has to be the nicest guy ever and a wonderful host!

After the tour, we went to lunch at Saravanaa Bhavan and then Jill and I took a very nice long nap.

We just woke, went for a swim, and are now going to check out the restaurants and bars right by our apartment.

An absolutely perfect way to start a weekend, and a long vacation.

I hope you all are having as nice of a Friday as we are having!

Day 147 in Beijing: My Name in Water, Part 2.

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As the water art continued, Jill kept taking pictures.

He noticed her and asked her to come over so Jeri took the camera and continued taking pictures.

As you can see, he thought Jill was not only beautiful, but “very, very, very beautiful.”

I have to agree with him 100%.  Plus, he is an artist.  And artists know beauty.

As we finished up, I kept smiling and laughing and being amazed at how my life has turned out and that I have the ability to be in China, with an artist painting my name, face and also Jill’s name in Chinese and how I never would have thought I’d be anywhere near China in my life.

As we finished, I attempted to give him some money as a tip as I want to support local artists and buskers but he refused.  I had to keep handing it to him for about 30 seconds before he would take it.  I hope I didn’t offend him or diminish his artistic style by giving him money.  I just felt it was the right thing to do and he had more than earned anything I could give him in exchange for this amazing memory.

Day 146 in Beijing: My Name in Water, Part 1.

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Who needs their name in lights when you can have it in water?

Not me.

I’m very content with this magical event and beautiful rendering of my name, my face, and of Jill.

My friend from my hometown of Healdsburg, Jeri Jones, came to visit us during the Autumn vacation week in early October.  We did all kinds of touristy things and had a blast.

As we were walking around Beihai Lake, I happened to notice this older gentleman painting pictures with massive brushes.

His medium?  Water on rock.

I instantly fell in love with his art and his wonderful way of moving as he painted.

It looked, to me, as if he was dancing or doing tai chi as he painted and there was such joy that I couldn’t resist getting closer.

As he saw me get ready to take some pictures, he spoke to me in English.

He asked me my name and then started painting away.

He smiled constantly and laughed often at our limited conversations and what he was painting on the ground.

I stood transfixed, like a child, and I can only imagine how large my eyes were as he kept painting, moving, and dancing around the ground.

The painting took up around 20 feet by 20 feet and there was a crowd that kept laughing and encouraging him to paint more and keep going.

Day 136 in Beijing: Halloween. In Ito Yokado. Beijing Style.

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BOOOOOO!

BOOOOOO!

We love our little local grocery store, Ito Yokado.

Actually it isn’t little or specifically a grocery store.

I lived in Japan in 1996-1997 and learned that many of the stores, like Ito Yokado, would have a Macy’s like top 4 or 5 levels and then a grocery store in the basement.  Sometime there would be a very nice art gallery on the top level of the store.

I found it to be a smart use of space and a good way to keep the shopping experience local and limit the use of driving/busing around to get what I needed during the day.

Luckily, there is an Ito Yokado about 1 block from my apartment.  It is also much cleaner, faster, and nicer than the Wu-Mart on the other side of our apartment complex.  Since the Wu-Mart often smells badly, it is a breath of fresh air.  Honestly.

We got there every other day as the fridge we have is almost like one from my days in the college dorms and we can’t fit very much inside it.

So, we went shopping a few days ago and we happened on to the display for Halloween in Ito Yokado.

I managed to snap this picture before a security guard told me that pictures were not allowed and that I shouldn’t have taken one.

I am not sure what problems my picture of their Halloween decorations could cause but please be nice and don’t cause any after seeing it.

Especially if you work in a rival grocery store.  We don’t want to get banned from Ito Yokado!