Clarity

I've come back to Hong Kong and I leave for the United States in three days. I traveled Asia for 24 days.

What have I learned? The world is much bigger than anyone can imagine. It's also very delicate, and not all of us live in the prosperity of Western countries. Nature is beautiful. Poverty is hideous.

This child came up to me and asked for 5 Nepali Rupees - that's about 1 penny. The bag he carried was twice the size of him. He had no shoes. I gave him 10 Rupees and asked to take his picture. I remember crying a little, because I gave this child US$ 0.02 - and that was generous.

I return to the United States - my box - now. Hopefully I can escape it again. And hopefully, I can make a difference. For this child's sake.

~Ken

Singapore is Hong Kong... except they kill you here

Singapore is a "Fine City." -- and they do warn you about bringing drugs in. Recommendation: Don't do it.

Hello from Singapore. I made it out of Delhi, in one piece. I have about three hours and then I am on a plane back to Hong Kong. Woo! I am almost quasi home.

Home is Hong Kong. Then Home is Arizona. Then Home is Columbia, Missouri -- on the 14th of January.

Crazyiness.

Now that I will be back in Hong Kong and general civilization. You'll be getting all my pictures from my trip pretty soon. Just got to make it home. Almost there. (prays).

Ken

Happy New Year from ... Nepal?!

Please mind the gap.

I've typed that about 53 times on this blog since I started it. However, I now have a new gap to mind.

The gap between the mountains in the snow-capped Himalayas.

Hello from Kathmandu in Nepal, and happy new year to you. I have arrived safely in Nepal after a wonderful 5-day off-road adventure through Tibet. I have made it safely courtesy of a Tibetan man named Gelak and a 1980's Toyota Landcruiser with no headrests. I miss that SUV....

I have stood in the face of beautiful monestaries. I have stood in the face of great plateaus of Tibet. And I have stood in the face of Mt. Everest.

Yea, she's pretty fucking spectacular.

I had a wonderful new years party. I partied until 4 a.m. with Nepali locals dancing to Indian and Nepali dance music and drinking Danish beer.

I am here in Nepal for 4 days, and then I move onto India. I am actually now slowing down my trip a bit. I return to Hong Kong in 6 days -- at that point, you'll all get 40983428 bazillion pictures and much more detail about what I have seen.

My audience. I must say -- I have seen some wonderful and tragic things in my trip, and it has truly opened my eyes. I have seen things that has given me some purpose in life and has provided me a wondeful opportunity to see cultures I have only read about.

The people of the world are truly amazing. I am having a wondeful time getting to know them, however for so briefly.

Bless you all... and I miss you all very deeply. You'll see me very soon.

Love you Jenna and Ian!

Ken

I'm Alive and In Tibet

This whole blog thing hasn't worked out how I imagined it would, mainly because it's hard to post pictures.

However, I would like to state, very quickly that I am in Tibet -- Lhasa specifically. We just booked a Landcruiser tour from Lhasa to the Nepal Border today. That will take 5 days. I leave tomorrow morning.

If you wish to track me, I will be going from Lhasa to Xigaste (Shigaste), to Mt. Everest Base Camp, to a tiny tiny city that starts with a Z on the nepal border. Hot.

But, I am healthy, seeing things that have opened my eyes to truly amazing things, and in good old fashion Ken style, purchased enough items to be a signficant part of the Tibetan economy.

I promise everyone who reads regularly, I will post pictures when I get back to Hong Kong - home of the non-dialup reilable internet connection that isn't blocked by the gov't.

Miss you all.
Ken

Train Ride to Xian

After spending one more day in Beijing, it was time to move on. My next stop on my across Asia Super Tourist tour is Xian (where my camera was stolen).

I've always wanted to take an overnight train somewhere. I took Amtrak as a child to Disneyworld in Orlando. I don't remember that trip. I do remember winning a car though (wtf?). Yea, I won a car, but that's not the point of this blog entry is it?

So, yes: Train. So, I decided to go in style to Xian. We took the Chinese Z92 Overnight to Xian - the newest train on the Chinese railways, something they were very proud of. Johannes and I traveled by first-class to Xi'an, leaving at 8:30 p.m. and getting in at 8 a.m. We got our own cabin with our own toilet and table.

It was very Chic. Even more Chic: we had dinner and a beer in the dining car. The fried prawns were great.

Okay, here's pictures:

Beijing West Railway Station. Why wasn't I robbed here? Seemed like a good place to do so. Oh, I know... because it's Beijing and as first-class customers, we got our own lobby. I want to in the Party...

Yay our Train!

Please Mind the Gap - And Join the Party.
Ken

Wall!

I want to make a Southpark reference right now really badly. But, I'll keep the joke to myself and probably Ian.

Stupid Mongolians.

According to Chinese tradition, I am now a man - because I have now climbed the Great Wall of China. And I think the Chinese saying about being a man is probably true. Because if I see another set of stairs, all I think about is the stairs of the Great Wall.

So many stairs. ... so many stairs.

We decided to visit the Simatai part of the wall. There are several named parts of the wall, because it was built over a large period of time. The most touristy part is named Badaling - and it's completely restored. Simatai is a more mountainous part, less touristy, and probably the most amazing thing I have seen.

Simatai was built during the Ming Dinasty. You gotta learn your Dinasties to follow this blog. I recommend checking wikipedia. Anyways, to keep it simple, this wall is about 500 years old. There's a few other parts around here that were built much eariler and later than the Simatai Wall.

Here's an example. This picture is from the Simatai wall looking at another part (and another name). when I got to the top of the wall, you could see this section into the horizon. It was absolutely stunning. It's completely uninterrupted for miles.

We left Beijing about 9:30 a.m. and got to the Wall about noon. It's outside of Beijing by a considerable amount. It's very interesting to see the Chinese people in Beijing compared to the people in the more rural parts of China. It's like black and white.


This picture is from about the middle of Simatai. in one the guard towers. Some of the towers are in perfect condition, some are ruined. however, they all have a 3x3 grid pattern inside. Guards lived in the tower.

Inside the wall, was ancient and modern Chinese (and English) graffiti. A set of Chinese students walking with us said it was very common for the guards to carve their names into the walls (and also the tourists). While I couldn't tell who was the modern or ancient graffiti, it was still interesting.


continued....




At the wall, there was a group of peasents and farmers trying to sell goods. Every white person who seemed to go up the wall was basically followed by someone all the way up the wall. While annoying, our lady in very broken English told her a little about her background and where she worked (she pointed to a collective farm in the horizon). I found her interesting - a middle aged woman who literally climbed the wall several times a day to sell a book or postcards to tourists. I bought overpriced postcards from here (paid 25 yuan ($3), when they were worth probably around 10 yuan). I felt ripped off, but these people literally live off of the difference between 50 US cents and 1 US Dollar. It's not going to kill my budget if I overpay in some place. Plus, she climbed a wall that wore me out. That's worth 10 yuan in itsself.

If something I am learning about China, and basically Asia in general - everyone has a purpose. This is even more so in the PRC, where state owned enterprises make you wonder why there's someone being paid for this job. But, no matter, they do a job.

At the very top of Simatai is a whole part of the wall that literally is built on a razor sharp mountain. This part of the wall was very broken and obviously it's not the best thing to climb. There was a sign saying that if you crossed it, you had to pay a fine of 200 yuan. Johannes, Me and a few other tourists climbing with us joked about how this sign seemed out of place and there was no way that it would ever be enforced.

And then a man came out from behind a section of the wall. He was very friendly... but yea... he's got the worst commute in the world. But probably one of the best office views of anyone.

Please Mind the Gap - And Climb the Wall, it's worth it.

Ken

Backdated Entry... cuz I stopped caring.

First off, apologies because I wrote this blog entry pre-robbery. This entry is mainly about my first day in Beijing.

After our Hot Pot experience, we got up to explore parts of Beijing (which we were quickly learning that a) much bigger than any city I have ever been in and b) has too many relics. It’s like Paris meets LA, during rush hour. It doesn’t help that the taxi drivers are not the most helpful in the world.
We spent the day at Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Tiananmen is a big massive open area, and when I saw massive, it’s pretty massive. There were many tourists and locals on the square, flying kites, talking, taking pictures, and so on. The square was also full of scam artists and hawkers.
Oh, hawkers, how I want to punch thee in the face. But, you probably know Kung Fu so I’ll just say “No” 47 ½ times.
The scam artists are very interesting. A young, good looking Chinese girl will come up to you speaking perfect English. She usually asks you where you are from, how long you have been in Bejiing.

Bitch: Hello sir.
Ken: Hello (rolls eyes)
Bitch: I Chinese student learning English. I practice English on you, yes?
Ken: No.
Bitch: What brings you to Beijing.
Ken: I live here in Dengchung District (south of Tiananmen, near the diplomatic apartments).
Bitch: I would like to show you to some museums.
Ken: No, leave me alone, thanks. (end of scene, return to top and repeat in three minutes)

The Museums they offer are actually rooms with paintings usually mass produced. If you go in (which I didn’t, I was highly warned against this), they will basically force you to purchase way overpriced bad art, or take you a tea room where you’ll pay 1,200-1,400 RMB ($200) to sample tea.
The hawkers are usually selling cheap goods you can bargain for. I wanted a Little Red Book, but I assume I’ll find them somewhere else. They also had Mao Hats. No, Larry, you’re not getting a Mao hat.

I literally joked as we were walking to the Forbidden City, “I wonder of the Forbidden City is really a City?”
Haha.
Yea, it is.
The Forbidden City is massive. Literally, we kept walking and the buildings and gardens just went everywhere. In order even to get to the Emperor’s house, you have to walk through nine gates. Yea, nine.
Pictures are better than words. Check it out.

We spent about 5 hours wandering the Forbidden City, and I was so impressed by the detailing and the craftsmanship of the whole area. For being almost 500 years old, the vast majority of it is in good condition. However, there were several parts that were off limits because Beijing is getting ready for the Olympics.
Actually, the Olympics is all Beijing residents like to talk about. They always say to me “Come back to Olympic.”

Please Mind the Gap – And screw you scam artists.

Ken

Fun Times?

I was robbed in Xi'an today. My camera was taken in a market. I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings and paid the price. Money too.

I am going to have to figure out how to take pictures of the next, oh 15 days of trip? ... shitty.

ken

I found internet... Beijing Day One

I'm literally uploading pictures as fast as I can. These first are from my first day in Beijing. This is Tianimiman Square and the Forbidden City. Enjoy. I will write more later.







I'm literally uploading pictures as fast as I can. These first are from my first day in Beijing. This is Tianimiman Square and the Forbidden City. Enjoy. I will write more later.

Ladies and Gentleman...

Well, the ethernet adapter on my computer is most likely fried. Apple is not sure what's wrong with it. They think the ethernet plug might need to be replaced. It looks like you are not going to get any blog entries from me for this trip.

Sorry, there's not much I can do. I'm using my travel companion's computer, which has a German keyboard (and just a little difficult to type on). This is just not going to work.

It makes me very upset to have to say that....

Ken

Smiles

First off, I must apologize because this post really deserved pictures, and I left my camera at the hotel.

Hello from Beijing. We arrived safely in Beijing, and ran into some other Hong Kong University students who were coming to Beijing the same weekend as us. After chatting throughout all the custom’s formalities, we went our separate ways and decided to run into each other tonight for dinner or to meet tomorrow.

Anyways, we took a taxi to our hotel in central Beijing. We’re staying a courtyard hotel in what’s traditionally referred to as a “hutong,” Chinese for narrow alley. Hutong are traditional Chinese neighborhoods, they are single-stories with narrow one-way streets with shops lining the outside and homes on the inside.

Our hotel is very nice. I will take pictures tomorrow of it – it’s way too dark to do so.
Anyways, Johannes and I wait around until about 6:30 p.m. for the other HKU students to call us. Unfortunately they didn’t, so out of starvation we decide to go looking for food. Our hotel lady told us to go “Left than Right,” but because I am a dumbass, I went Left, Left, Right to eat.
So we end up walking down some narrow streets of Beijing, where it’s literally below freezing.

We’re not going to go far for food, and we see this little tiny place that looks somewhat busy with good furniture and decide to step in.

No one speaks English, but we realize that the restaurant serves “Hot Pot.” Hot Pot is basically a fire-burning oven placed in front of your table with boiling water in it. They bring you meet and vegetables and you cook it yourself.

Our very nice server doesn’t speak a word of English, but continues to rattle on to us in Mandarin like we’re conversational in Chinese (and we’re just the silent types). Here’s our conversation:

Ken: Ni Hao (Points to hot pot at another table and smiles)
Server: Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin (smiles and points to the hot pot on the table).
Ken: (Smiles). “Xie Xie” (thank you.)
Server: Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin (opens up our menus, which we didn’t open, points to a spattering of things) Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin.
Ken: (Smiles)

I think I ordered food.

I’ve never had hot pot in my life. I have no idea how to eat it.

However, the food arrives, it’s absolutely amazing. Basically you take the vegetables, and meet, boil it, then dip it into a peanut sauce (which can be flavored how you want).

Server: Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin (takes various things and puts it in my peanut dip)
Ken: (Smiles)

The food was so great. I was absolutely thrilled – I love little hole in the walls, and we were absolutely stuffed, even though we had no idea what we ordered, how we ordered or how much the bill was).

We get the bill – it comes to 94 yuan (about 12 bucks). We ordered enough food for four people. So we split it, and it comes to like 48 yuan a person. Not bad. Well, I hand her a 100 yuan bill and she brings me change.

Server: Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin (hands back 6 yuan and smiles)
Ken: Smiles and begins to place the 6 yuan on the table as a tip.
Server: Laughs out loud, Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin. (hands the 6 yuan back to us).
Ken: (Smiles and takes the money back).

No Tipping I guess.

So, that’s my first day. I’d write more creatively, but I am a bit tired. We’re going to the Forbidden City tomorrow. Should be fun.

Please Mind the Gap – And Smile.

Ken

Off I Go

Play at home folks. We'll play connect the dots. Fun Fun. Wish me luck.

Ken

Woo!

I just kicked my only final exam's ass. It was four essay questions, and you could choose two to write on. One was Hong Kong's economy with China and another was Hong Kong's air pollution.

I could write a doctoral thesis on both of those subjects. I've done a presentation on question 1 and written enough Bloomberg stories on question 2 to be the Hong Kong Air Pollution beat reporter.

It's nice to be good at school again.

Ken

This needs no explanation.

The Lonely Planet guide book I bought about China has a chapter about the Mongol invasion.

It's titled "The Wrath of Khan."

Wow....

Is Wolf Blitzer Going to have to slap a....

Lordy. Lordy.

It was like God smiled, then struck me with a lightning bolt.

Hong Kong decided, I think collectively, to put everything on sale.

Like, everything. Seriously, you need a list?!

Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Paul Smith, Valentino, Ralph Lauren, Prada, Tod's, Dior, YSL, Columbia Sports Company, Nike, Cole Haan, Lacoste, Givenchy, Juicy Couture....

It goes on. The English department store Harvey Nichols, considered one of the most exclusive stores in fashiondom, is having a 40 percent off sale.

Why do they have to be so cruel? The only store not being cruel is Chanel, who thankfully, never puts anything on sale. If you didn't know Chanel burns everything they don't sell. That makes my day.

Ken

Today Covet Item. Take a wild f'kin' guess.

Victoria Peak

Here's some pictures from my trip up to Victoria Peak today. Enjoy

Colonialism is Pretty

Let's say you run a civilization. At some point during your history, you decide you need more space, and figure that well, China's the way to go. So, when you arrive in the Pearl River Delta, what do you do? Do you:

• A - Build a trading post, adapting to the 3,000-year-old Chinese Culture in the area.
  
• B - Build a trading post, deciding that any local culture somehow falls beneath your great civilization. Local culture? Ha!
  
• C - Build a trading post, get bored, build a casino or 20.
  
• D - A mixture of B and C, with just enough Catholicism to keep from going to Hell.
  

I love Macau.

I took a day trip to Macau today. Macau, the strange colonial bedfellow of China, was founded by the Portuguese 500 years ago (Woah). After holding onto this tiny tiny tiny island (two kilometers by one kilometer), for centuries, the Portuguese gave it back to China in 1999. However, they left a very interesting impression on this little island.

First off, it's the only place in China you can gamble. I never equated the Portuguese with gambling, but I never equated the Portuguese with much in the first place so I obviously needed a place to start. They are kinda the strange cousin of Europe who lives by the beach all the time. I know my European friends will enjoy that. We love stereotypes.

Macau is actually really cool though. Hong Kong and Macau both were founded around the same time, but Hong Kong took a "historical building? Fuck that - let's put a car park here" attitude. So, in Macau, you have cobblestone streets, European architecture, and more churches than you can shake a Bishop's staff at.

The architecture was pretty awesome. The streets were all cobblestone, with beautiful frescoes, cute little shops. You'd think you were in some quaint Portuguese or Mediterranean town in Europe -- that somehow was having the largest Chinese tour group in history coming through.

I was also thoroughly entertained by the money in Macau. Macau uses it's own currency - the Pataca. Other than winning the "Hard Consonant Word of the Day," it's probably the least used currency on the face of the planet. It's pegged to the Hong Kong Dollar (which in turn is pegged to the U.S. Dollar). And, funny thing, the currency is in the minority on the island. According to their Monetary Authority, Patacas make up only 22.3 percent of all Macauese currency in circulation. The More You Know. I took some home with me, cuz I like useless money.

Pictures anyone?

Okay, so, yea... Macau likes the Church. A lot of very large, massive, ''power of Christ'' churches. The one that's pretty popular is St. Paul's Cathedral ruins. This was built like 400 years ago and then God got angry some time in the 1800s and decided to burn the entire thing down.

All that's left is the facade in the front. However, it's a pretty massive facade. You can see the whole city, and its casinos, from the facade's second floor.

Cultural Imperialism time though. Since I got to Hong Kong, I have been warned not to take photos of any inner sanctums of the temples here. St. Paul's has a crypt, a fairly nice one, filled with bones and stuff. Obviously God didn't like the architecture, but had a thing for the skeletons.

Anyways, there are signs everywhere saying that say ''this is a sacred place, please respect it.'' Really didn't see it from the Chinese there. It was kinda sad. They were touching things, and taking goofy pictures. I was a little flustered.

Okay more pictures of churches, ready set go:





Sorry, I had to do it. The Power of Christ compelled me to take this picture. I feel my soul rotting.

Okay, enough of good ol' fashion religion. Let's see sin! It's what everyone comes to Macau for anyways:



Woo! Casinos! Steve Wynn just opened a casino last month in Macau. It's the big super-hot place to be right now. It looks deathly familiar... to Las Vegas.









Speaking of Vegas. I wanted to share this picture. This looks like the other Macau streets I have taken pictures of, yes? Wrong! This is a new Casino. In good old Las Vegas style, they built a whole cultural center to emulate old Macau. Except, well, old Macau is like one kilometer from here.

I didn't get it. I think they should have done Paris. That would have at least been in the spirit of Vegas.


The food was actually really good in Macau. It's a mixture of Portuguese and Chinese food. Take that Californian infusion cuisine! The Portuguese got to this idea before you! I did spoil myself though. I ordered a wonderful rack of lamb and a great bottle of wine, and sat on a cobble stone street reading a book. It was heaven in some Portuguese Chinese Gambling Catholic weird sort of way.

Please Mind the Gap - and the Sin.

Ken

PS: Find me 40 bottles of this wine, and I will love you forever. I couldn't find it for the life of me.

And you thought U.S. Flying Sucks

Ken: "Hello nice travel agent. I would like to book two flights from Kathmandu, Nepal to Dehli, India."
Agent: "Certainly Rich American. We have three flight options for you."
Ken: "How splendid. Please give me those options."
Agent: "Well, we have Airline A, B and C. Airline A we aren't sure exists anymore."
Ken: "Oh... well, why are you trying to sell me this?"
Agent: "It's the cheapest."
Ken: "I can imagine. Next option, please."
Agent: "Certainly rich American. We have Airline B. Airline B doesn't fly to Dehli right now, but will next month."
Ken:"Oh, so it's expanding? Excellent, I'll take those tickets."
Agent: "Oh, you misunderstood me Rich American. I said they don't fly to Dehli right now, I didn't say they were expanding."
Ken: "So, why don't they fly to Dehli right now."
Agent: "Poor safety record. I think they forgot to hire mechanics or something. Big Nepalese Scandal."
Ken: "Next airline please."
Agent: "Certainly rich American. You can fly Airline C. Airline C is expensive."
Ken: "Well, okay."
Agent: "Very Expensive."
Ken: "Aren't I the rich American?"
Agent: "Certainly you are sir. But you can't afford this ticket. Plus, they require you get pick up the ticket in Kathmandu. I think you have to be Nepali to fly them. Are you Nepali, Mr. Sweet?"
Ken: "I'm not in Kathmandu. I was hoping for an e-ticket. No, I'm American, remember?"
Agent: "Oh, yes.... hmm. Well, Airline C is a good option. Can you wire me your deposit and we'll see if the flight is open for non-Nepalese?"
Ken: "I'm going to take a bus."
Agent: "Call back next week. Some other airlines might start up between now and then."

Sadly, this conversation is pretty much verbatum.

Please Mind the Gap - and get me out of Nepal.
~Ken

Who knew I would be happy to have a long layover?

On January 5th, I fly from Dehli to Singapore. I get there in the morning (430 a.m. to be precise). I then leave Singapore for Hong Kong at 7 p.m. and get into Hong Kong at 1045 p.m. on the 6th.

So, I get to spend the whole day wandering around in Singapore. Woo, another stamp!

Usually I hate long layovers... but I get to wander Singapore now! I'll make sure to leave my cocaine, pornography, cigarettes and malaysian newspapers at home then.

Ken