Kyoto Day 2ish...

Today felt like one of those travel TV shows where the host miraculously covers an entire city in one day. I’m living proof that it’s possible. Kyoto is great. It still has that old school Japan feel, but it’s not raggedy and doesn’t feel like a dusty old museum of a city. I started the day with my 9 am appointment for a maiko makeover. A maiko is a geisha in training. Their kimonos and hairpieces are usually more floral and playful, their hairstyle is very different, and the same goes for their make up. They also wear really high shoes. It took them about 30 minutes from start to finish. Once dressed, a photographer and I hit the streets for a photo shoot. After the shoot, I walked around for half an hour in the outfit and makeup. Kyoto is a big school trip destination so at 10 am the streets were full of elementary and middle school kids form all over the country. It was so funny to hear little kids scream “Oh, maiko-san from a distance.” It was even funnier to hear, “EEEH!” when they got up close enough to realize that it was some Black lady dressed up.

From there I went to Kiyomizu Temple and took a couple of pictures. I wanted to find the Nintendo headquarters building but I could find any directions on the internet. However, I did see it from the train on my way to Inari Fushimi. For those of you who have seen memoirs of a geisha, you may remember the scene where the main character is running through row of Tori (orange/red shito gates). Well, I visited the shrine where that scene was shot. It’s called wanted to find the Nintendo headquarters building but I could find any directions on the internet. However, I did see it from the train on my way to Inari Fushimi. My neighbor let me borrow (soon to be “have”) his tripod so I was able to take some pictures with me in them. Since I was on a schedule I didn’t get to walk the entire length of the trail, but I’ll go back to Kyoto next year to do all that. Next, I was off the other end of the city to see Kinkakuji, another really famous temple that is covered in gold. All day long it looked like there was a storm on the way so I cut back a cross town to have dinner at Yojiya Café. This time I was in luck. I had a Margherita pizza and an iced café au lait. The café au lait is the whole reason I had been trying to get there in the first place. Look at how they serve it…COOL! For dessert, I tried my hardest to get to a soufflé place called Rokuseisatei. They stopped taking orders at 6 and I got there at 6:14!!! They open at 11:30 am and my train to Tokyo leaves at 11:26 so I guess I’ll just have to catch it next year too. Oh well. So, I just walked around until I was exhausted then headed back to the hotel.

Kobe Conference Day 3...Kyoto Day 1

Today, we only had sessions in the morning so Michelle, one of her homies, and I went to lunch together afterwards. Then we all parted ways. I headed to Kyoto. On the train I received a text from on the guys who lives in the next city over. He and a girl in m building both have forms of pneumonia and they had been discussing the possibility of asbestos in our apartments. After sending emails up the food chain, he found out that the do have asbestos and the board of education isn’t going to do anything about it…WHAT!!! I made up my mind to focus on that after my vacation had ended. My goal is to see all the places on my list in a matter of 24 or so hours. Here’s the list of must-dos:

Get a Maiko (geisha in training) Make-over
See Kiyomizu-dera

See Fushimi Inari
See Kinkakuji
Eat at Yojiya Café, Tsujiri, and Rokusai Satei
Buy a purse from Ichizawa Hanpu

Here are the other things to do if I have time:
Take a picture in front of the sign in the lobby of the Nintendo Headquarters
Eat Kitsune Udon
Take a picture of Amanohashidate

This afternoon, I was able to get a few things done. For starters, I checked in and jumped on a bus to find my purse and I made time for foolish photos as usual. I walked around Gion…the Geisha district and I think I saw two real maiko. The first one entered the street from a narrow alleyway and I asked her if I could take her picture. She very politely excused herself and scurried up the street to a building that appeared to be having an event. From a few meters up the street, I saw another come from the same entrance and head to the same building like she too was on a mission. I feel so special. I may have seen two of the few remaining Geisha…or Geisha-to-be. I had the Grand Poobah of Japanese parfaits at Tsujiri, a maccha (green tea) dessert restaurant in Gion. It started to pour after I got on the bus to head to the station so that I could go to Yojiya Café, so I went back to the hotel ot get my umbrella. When I got back downstairs, there was not a drop of rain. Thanx to the incorrect listing for the hours of operation of Yojiya Café, it was already closed when I got there. So, I came back to the hotel and had some Starbucks instead.

Kobe Conference Day 2

Waking up at 7-something is no fun…waking up at 7-something after going to bed at 4-something is even less fun…waking up at 7-something after going to bed at 4-something and going to a meeting is…ok you get the point. The sessions were…sessions…lunch was…lunch. The evening, however, was SPECTACULAR…Okay, so maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but it was a whole lotta fun. We ventured back to Harborland and Michelle, Dave, and I had Kobe beef. It was really good. They brought each of us the raw beef and veggies on a skillet/plate and you cooked it to your liking after they brought it to you. It was expensive, pretty fatty, but really good…until later when my stomach was paid me back.

After dinner a whole bunch of use ended up down in the recreation are a for a little over sized stuffed animal races and Ferris wheel fun! After playing we trekked off in search of music and people dancing to it. Let me just say that Japan really needs to stop with the perceptions of Black folks…and second of all, everybody knows that we were rocking Jheri curls in the 80s, not fros!!! Our first stop was Second Chance, and for a second there was a bit of movement…short lived, so we scuttled on down the street to a place that everyone kept calling PP and Sonic. When we got there, I realized that PP was short for Party Party and the name of the party was Sonic. I had seen a bunch of people who I met when I went to Miyazaki for Halloween and a guy I met in Atlanta (who is a dancer and whose mom and sister were so sweet to me in Atlanta before we left) at our meetings and lo’ and behold they were all at PP…so we all danced the night away…aside from the fun, there were some not-so-fun moments when people I didn’t want to talk to felt the need to hold conversations with me and continually forget my name…so let’s just say that as far as they know my name is Ashley and they have “my” number…which I hope is not really someone’s number because they will indeed be surprised to receive calls from random foreign men…ooops. Another post 4 am bedtime kinda night with an even earlier start in the morning this time…sigh.

Kobe Conference Day 1

Yesterday morning, I got up, got dressed, and changed suitcases at the last minute. I took a taxi to the station so I was there like 15 minutes early. The train that came before the one I had planned to take was pulling off as I was coming out of the elevator. I should have moved a little more quickly to take that one because my train was stopped like 2 stations before my transfer to the high speed train…so I missed it. I’m so glad that the public transportation is so efficient here. I was able to catch another high speed train that departed 15 minutes later than my original train.
Our hotel was fabulous, as usual. They really spend a lot of money on our accommodations and I think it’s a little unnecessary. Beautiful island on a man-made island, great room, swanky bathroom, beautiful views of the harbor....YAY! However they should keep up the good work until I’m gone. I like to think of it as reparations for how horrible our apartments are!!! My roommate is someone from my prefecture whom I don’t know, but I guess I know her now. I don’t really anticipate spending much time with her because she talks entirely too much for me. Plus, I like so spend time a way from “home” with people who I don’t get to see…aka my roommate from Tokyo Orientation/Travel buddy!!! So after acting a fool during the ½ day of meetings, we carried it over into the night. We all went to Chinatown for dinner and Harborland to look at….ummmm….the water and stuff. Although I got a bunch of good pictures of scenery and stuff from Chinatown and Harborland, these two were my favorites. I thought they were neat. Then, we followed the sound of fellow foreigners in the street and ended up at a place called Soul Blood for a party called Hip Hop Juice…Sounds all bad right? ER! Wrong…WE HAD A BALL!!! So much so that we were the last people left on the dance floor…Hence our newest slogan…Tiffany and Michelle: Shutting down clubs since 2007!!! Any place that features a before and after portrait of Michael Jackson at the door is indeed the place for me...hehehe. We also went to a place called Second Chance, but there was more drinking than dancing so we didn’t stay there long. Did I mention that I went to bed after 4 am?

Why I Love Weekends

Last weekend was pretty fun. Saturday three of us met with our friend and she took us to the city. She knows a woman who does traditional Japanese dance so she asked her if we could come in for a short lesson. The woman had recently broken her arm so she couldn’t make it, but her daughter (24) was there. It was really nice. They dressed us up in some FABULOUS kimono and we learned a dance to a song called Sakura. After strapping us into our kimono, it was hair time. Lucky for me, fros and flowers are a big hit or they were just intimidated by the prospect of the sheer magnitude of this beautiful mystical creature on my head. So, my hair was left alone. The dance was very easy, but there were some serious details. For example, you had to move with your toes turned in to keep from looking like a “man”, your head has to tilt at the right times, and you have to keep your center of gravity whenever you bend your knees because bending at the waist is impossible wearing a kimono. My friend told the instructor that I’m a salsa dancer so she wanted a demo class. So, there we were, dressed in kimonos, doing the basic step and turns and shimmying shoulders because the kimonos restricted all other movement below the arms. After the lesson, the instructor treated us to some tempura for lunch. The restaurants here are so cool. A U-shaped counter, folks frying the goods in the middle, and placing them on your plate as soon as they come out of the grease…mmmmmm, grease! After lunch, our friend had a hair appointment so we were left to our own devices for a few hours = unnecessary shopping! To justify my purchases, I bought things to wear to work…i.e. in order to keep from destroying my nice oxfords, I bought polos for the summer.

Sunday, I woke up early to run errands. Here was the checklist:
Get stupid bike tire fixed
Buy sweat catchers at the pharmacy cuz sweat ain’t cute at a business meeting
Go to the bank to support your habit (shopping, that is)
Get paint supplies from the dollar store to support your other habit (not being bored)
Buy desert for rendezvous later
Remember French

Once all this was finished and I was at home, I finished painting my bathroom (from blue to green)…a project that I started on last Monday. I cooked some summer rolls with peanut sauce, but I didn’t have time to eat any because I was supposed to meet some folks at 1. A friend of a friend has a friend who speaks French. So, we all met at the friend of a friend’s house. His friend’s French was really good and she was really nice. We all discussed our travel and language experiences over sweets…in French, Japanese, and English….talk about cross-cultural communication!!! The friend of a friend said that there’s a part in the [remake of the] movie The Parent Trap where the main character is speaking French and he wanted to know if what she was saying made sense. So, we watched it. I excused myself by saying that I had a meeting and had to leave at 4:30…a meeting with the paint roller and my bathroom. The friend of a friend’s mother came home. She added raw corn to the snacks on the table. My first thought was, “Ummm, I wonder what this is going to taste like.” Raw sweet corn tastes surprisingly a lot like a fruit or some kind. Then, she offered us some watermelon but I don’t like watermelon and I was about to leave so she gave me an ear of corn and welcomed me to come back whenever I liked. The funny thing is, I think I might actually have more fun with her than with her son…LOL! After painting, I finished packing for my conference/travelscapades, went over the itinerary I made for myself, and cleaned up. The conference is in Kobe and I’ll be going to Kyoto and Tokyo for the rest of the week.

Um...no...I don't think so.

So obviously, kids are crazy. Did you all hear about the boy who decapitated his mom? C-R-A-Z-Y!!! Michelle and I had a brief IM conversation about it and she brought up a very valid point. Everyone around here goes on and on about how low the crime rate is, but every five seconds there’s a news report about a suicide or someone committing some heinous murder…heinous like stuff that we (referring to folks in the States) only see in movies.
Perhaps it’s Fidgety Friday, and maybe everyone is tired, ready to go, and had a long week but that’s no excuse for the students to be down right rude…ALL DAY! In my 5th period class, over 50% of the students were talking THE WHOLE TIME! It didn’t’ help that their teacher had them sitting in groups. So, I decided to walk around during the lesson…and what did I find? One of the boys in the back of the classroom was playing with a piece of metal, about 2 inches long, that had a sharp edge, and appeared to be some sort of attachment to a tool used to cut. Whatever it was, it was close enough to a knife so I put my hand out for him to give it to me. He closed it in his fist and held his closed fist over my palm. Then he pulled his hand away as if he wasn’t going to give it to me. Once he realized that I hadn’t and wasn’t going to move, he gave it to me and I put it in my pocket. Usually when I take stuff from students during class (toys, notes, etc), I give it back when the bell rings. Not this time…he ain’t about to shank me when I’m not looking. So, I carried it to the teachers room and handed it to the JTE. I wonder what will become of that situation. She had class with them again the next period but I didn’t have to go. I honestly don’t think they even punish kids at this school (my city school) and that’s a problem.

Beijing...Day 6...and back to Fukuoka!

We were up at dawn because our flight left at 9 am. We checked our luggage and ate breakfast. I tried rose milk tea for the first time. There were roses in the bottom of the cup. There was some guy who was DRUNK at 8 am in the restaurant who kept giving the server US dollars. At first, there was another guy with him but I think that guy just left him there. It was sad. In the states, they would have called security on his behind. At customs in the Qingdao airport, the agent kept asking Maggie in Japanese and English if she was Korean after she gave him her U.S. passport and California driver’s license, telling him that she was born in America. The funny thing is that she’s Chinese American. Then he proceeded to ask both Michelle and I if Maggie was Korean with a look of disbelief on his face the whole time. CRAZINESS!!! We were all knocked out on the flight back.

We came back to my town and hung out for a bit. That, evening Michelle and I donned our weekend hair, took all her stuff to the city, put it in lockers and headed out for a night on the town…a whole night! I took her to the Jamaican restaurant then to Sam and Dave’s, a foreigner/Navy haven…we were there until like 5 am. Then some Kenyans spotted us taking pictures, jumped in and invited us to walk with them to the after party spot that doesn’t close until like 7 am. By 6, we were EXHAUSTED! So, we went to the Internet Café for a bit of silliness and a 6-hour nap before her train left. We grabbed some croissants and coffee and ate near the platform. I was sad to see my vacation end, but I am glad that we chose to return on a Friday so that we could have a couple of days to get some rest.

I’m glad that I got to experience the good and bad in China. I seriously doubt that Chinese society will be ready for the tidal wave of foreigners that will be there in a year for the Olympics. Not that other cultures are better, but as far as sanitation and formalities are concerned, I’m sure that folks (Chinese and foreign) will be in for a rude awakening when 2008 rolls around!!!

Beijing...Day 5

Our final full day in Beijing was devoted to S-H-O-P-P-I-N-G!!! In the morning, we went to the Temple of Heaven to complete our sightseeing. First, we had steamed buns, soup, and tea (that I didn’t drink because it looked to questionable for even me) for breakfast across from the Temple of Heaven. It’s another beautiful place that would have been much better had it not been for all the people/all the people trying their hardest to take a picture with you! I wish that I had asked Kisha how to say, “Did you come here to see me?” There’s a cool circular walled-in courtyard where you can yell at the wall way one side and the people on the other side can hear you clearly.

Next, we walked down the street to the Pearl Market. On the first floor, there were electronics (didn’t buy any b/c some things just should not be bootlegged), jewelry, material, and one wig booth that I spotted instantly. Michelle and I purchased some “weekend hair” for about $19 for both, after I told them that I’m a wig maker and I know how much they cost to produce and how much they buy them for from the manufacturer. The top two floors were all pearls. I got 5 pearl necklaces and 3 jade rings for about $48 altogether after I told them that I was a scuba instructor, I knew high quality pearls when I saw them and theirs were low quality, and showed them how round and nice the one that I wore around my neck was. I should be an actor! On the shoe/purse floor, I told one of the ladies that I was 29. I told a few more people that so that they would stop calling me “girl” when trying to get me to come look at their booths.

In the purse section, I found out that they don’t keep some brands in the market. After asking 3 ladies for a particular bag, and being told, “I don’t have it here but you can come to my warehouse that is 2 minutes away,” I decided to go with the third lady. I found Michelle and Maggie and we headed to the “warehouse” with “Lisa.” The hutongs are the narrow alleyways of old Beijing and they are MO’ SKETCHY THAN A LIL BIT!!! After winding and zigzagging through the back streets, all the while remembering exactly how we got there, we made it to the fifth floor of some nearly dilapidated looking building. We got to a door and just as “Lisa” turned the key, there was a voice from inside and the door opened. A girl inside turned on the light…WALL TO WALL knock off purses! The way they were all hidden away, you would have thought they were all the real thing. We were talking and she cut me off mid-sentence because she heard some voices in the hall. She put one finger to her mouth and said “Sssssh,” gently closed the door, and locked it. That’s when Michelle, Maggie, and I gave each other the “O UH UH” face!!! We left soon after. On the way back to the market, I asked “Lisa” why they couldn’t have certain things in the market and she said that if the real companies complained (a lot of whom have factories in China), the police would raid the market. She asked if we were going back to the market and I told her that we needed to eat lunch. She tried to invite herself on the sly but I made sure that she remembered how mean she said her boss was.

For lunch, we went to “The Largest McDonald’s in the World.” I looked it up and some sites say it’s in Vinita, Oklahoma on Route 66, while others say it’s in Beijing. I ended up moving because a girl was taking pictures of me and I wanted to eat in peace. Then we went back over to the same Olympic store where Kisha tripped the girl. After that, we went to Wangfujing’s night food street. In the evening, there’s a long stretch of food stalls that sell any and everything on a stick. I don’t know which is less appetizing…kids peeing on the sidewalk due to the convenience of the hole in the bottom of their pants or the various deep fried bugs. You be the judge. I will say though that you could find both of these things within a few feet of one another. We stopped at a hotel to find out about the times and rates for an acrobatics show, but we decided to go to the hotel then back to the Worker’s Stadium instead. I bought an earring/necklace set for myself, a pearl necklace for Kisha, a billfold for Justin, a purse for my mom, and a leather for my dad…and I’m sure I didn’t spend more than $100!!! For dinner, we went to a Japanese restaurant down the street from the hotel. I had Udon in a clay pot and it tasted pretty much like all the Udon that I’ve eaten in Japan. Maggie and Michelle had California rolls, which aren’t Japanese and for some reason there was banana in them…ummm?

Beijing...Day 4

Maggie stayed in last night, but Michelle, Kisha, and I decided to go out. Mind you, it was already about 2:30 am when we left the hotel. We went to a club in the area of town where all the Korean students are. The club was called Propaganda and it really reminded me of MJQ. The music was pretty good so we tore up the dance floor. There were more foreigners there than Chinese people! We met a really nice South African guy who told us a short story in Zulu, Xhosa, or something. Whatever it was, it was AMAZING!!! There was a bunch of clicks that he made while making consonant sounds…IMPOSSIBLE! We left the club at like 5:30 am and the sun was already on its way up. When we got back to the hotel at about 6 am, Maggie was awake and standing near the door when we opened it. Why? The tour company had just called and they were going to be downstairs in 20 minutes!!! I took the quickest shower ever! What happened to the 8 am pickup? The guide was “nice enough” to stop at a shop so that we could get something to eat. However, he was really stopping to pick someone else up. We slept most of the way to the Great Wall. Before we got there, we made a 40-minute stop at a jade factory for a rushed 5-minute tour followed by encouragement to spend the remaining 35 minutes in the gift store, which was 3 times the size of the “museum.” I learned two things. The way to distinguish high quality jade is to knock two pieces together. The higher pitched the sound, the lower the quality, and all jade is cloudy. We passed what were the beginnings of a Disney Land. For some reason, the funding was stopped so they stopped building. It was in the middle of nowhere and looked pitiful.

Next, we went to the Badaling section of the Great Wall. We had 2 hours to loiter or walk around at our leisure. There was some issue with incoming traffic so we had to walk 1 kilometer to the entrance! Luckily, that was not included in the 2 hours. Then, we took this bootleg go-carty/train thingy up to the 4th guard post so that we could walk up to the 8th guard post. THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE and it was HOT!!! Mao Zedong made it to the 8th and he said that you aren’t a hero unless you do. Our tour guide “Tony” said, “If you come to Beijing without seeing the Great Wo-ooh (I like the way he pronounced wall), it will become a great pity in your life.” With lots of huffing, puffing, pausing, and potential for shin splints in the near future, we finally made it to the 8th post. Before getting back on the bootleg go-carty/train thingy, Michelle experienced a little cookie tossage. At the bottom, I bought an “I climbed the Great Wall” t-shirt. For “lunch”, we stopped at a traditional Chinese medicine center. I put lunch in quotations because it was already after 3 pm and folks were starving. Thanks to sleep deprivation, I didn’t have much of an appetite, which was probably a good thing because “Tony” informed us that they had put some “medicine” in the soup. UH UH! After lunch, we were given another 5-minute tour. Then we were led into a room where doctors put three fingers our wrists, asked our ages, looked at our tongues, diagnosed us with different things, wrote a prescription, and sent us out into the “pharmacy” (store) to buy the overpriced “medicine.” I did the “consultation” for the heck of it and the doctor said, “You’re healthy.” The whole time I was thinking, “HEY YOU! SMARTY PANTS. What about this heartburn and indigestion?! HUH?! WHAT ABOUT THAT?! HUH?!?!”

After that, we stopped at the Ming tombs. We were all exhausted and all I remember from the Ming tombs was that the emperor liked funky hats, he had 60 concubines and killed them all because none of them got pregnant, and a “fountain” (more like a whole in the ground) was built in their honor. Um, it is pretty obvious why none of them had babies. What in the world did he think was the reason…people are crazy! Everyone on the tour was so nice. “Tony” referred to us as the United Nations because there were people from the U.S., Poland, England, France, Taiwan, German, Indonesia, and perhaps some other places. There were about 20 of us, and everyone was so friendly. We made it back to the hotel an hour later than they said and in just enough time for Kisha to shower, pack up her stuff, and head to the train station. I asked her if she wanted me to go with her, but she said no so I walked her out and gave her cab fare. I’m so glad that I was able to see her. It’s been almost 2 years! She was a major reason why our time in China was sooooo EXCITING!!!

For dinner, Michelle, Maggie, and I ate at a Korean restaurant that we had pass a few times. It was pretty good. We had bibimbap and kimbap. The bibimbap was good, but instead of using beef in the kimbap, they used some stanky tasting sausage! YUCK! So, I picked it out. Then, we went back to the massage place. All three of us were asleep before they were even done! At the hotel, we all fell asleep as soon as our heads hit our pillows.

Beijing...Day 3

We woke up extra early to get a head start on finding the public transportation tour bus for the Great Wall. First, we had breakfast at the restaurant where were ate dinner the Monday night. We had rice/pumpkin porridge, steamed meat buns, and some fried bread. In the middle of the meal Kisha said, “You smell the ammonia smell in the bread? That’s a chemical that is said to cause Alzheimer’s when eaten over a long period of time.” ACK!!! Needless to say, that was my last bite of it. Then, we headed to the big bus depot. Unfortunately, the bus appeared to be nonexistent and or course the other tours that were out there refused to tell us/didn’t know about the bus we were looking for. In our haste to get out there, one of use forgot to put on deodorant so we headed across the street to a store to find some. While there, we bought some snacks to bring back to our respective offices as gifts. With her fabulous Chinese language skills, Kisha overheard some derogatory things being said about us by the clerks so she called one of them a “Stank *****” in Chinese…ironic because we were looking for deodorant!!! This was also the same store that she had been to about a year ago, where she ended up smacking the snot out of some guy who was all in her face. I love that girl…a New Yorker to the bone! It’s so unfortunate that people assume you don’t understand them because you’re a foreigner….especially in a place where there are so many foreigners who speak the language. This was only the beginning of the fun with Kisha and her impeccable Chinese ability!!! She told us the story of when she lost her passport because it had flown out of the window of a moving bus while she was beating up some Chinese guy who kept taking pictures of her after she changed seats and told him to stop several times. And there’s the time when she had to go to the police station and pay a fine for whacking some woman with an umbrella while waiting for the elevator in her apartment building.

Next, we went to a youth hostel to check their store for some deodorant. It was another place where we should have stayed! Our deo search was futile yet again, but we did find a tour to the Great Wall. Unfortunately, it made three other stops (Jade factory, some Chinese Medicine center, and the Ming tombs), but it was reasonably priced and the woman said the bus would pick us up at our hotel at 8 am. After booking our tour, we headed back over to Tiananmen Square so that we could see the Forbidden City. Despite the fact that much of it was under construction for preservation purposes, it was amazing. It would have been better had there not been a million bazillion people there. I had to give the evil eye to a couple of folks who thought it was a good idea to step in a little too close to get a better look at me. Someone grabbed Michelle’s hair and she thought it was one of us. So, needless to say she was upset about that. Kisha’s umbrella served as a shield from unwanted camera shots. And lest we not forget the forbidden bathroom...yes, that's it to the left!

We ate in the area called Wangfujing. The sign at the restaurant said something in Chinese and “Muslim Restaurant.” We had a Mongolian hot pot and ironically enough we had shrimp. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought shrimp were not Halal! After our early dinner, we headed across the street to the Olympic store. Once again, Kisha overheard some mean stuff being said about black folks by some of the clerks so she tripped one of them. When the girl asked her why she did it, she told them it was because they were talking about her. The clerk said something to the effect of, “Well, you’re a different kind of person here.” So, Kisha told her that she was “Still a person regardless.”

On the way to the train station, the cab driver almost hit a man who was crossing the street while trying to look at us in the cab...SCARY and kinda funny at the same time. We ate ramien (ramen) at the train station after Kisha bought her return ticket and almost got robbed by two guys who had apparently been scheming on her. Before dinner, she bought a chicken foot to snack on but had the nerve to change her order because she said that the beef looked two white for beef!!! HAHAHAHA! We went back to the hotel to drop off our stuff, and then we searched for places to get a massage. We stumbled upon a tea house so we stopped for some Jasmine tea. It was really good. However, the tea cost about $17 and the small bowl of peanuts cost about $25…WAIT A MINUTE…but we let it go and headed out to continue our massage search. At the first place we found, we were greeted by a man wearing a shirt and tie. He had a strange smirk and said that there weren’t any showers for woman but he could arrange a room for us to get a massage. After looking around while he was telling this to Kisha in Chinese, we realized that there were no women there…RED FLAG!!! Apparently, this was not just a spa…ehem! So, we scurried out. On the way back to our hotel, we stopped to take pictures outside of an Irish pub called Durty Nellie’s. The next place we found was fairly nice and the staff greeted us in English with wide welcoming smiles. We went to a room with four chairs and four ladies came in to give our weary muscles quite the work out. Massages and reflexology HURT! But boy did we feel much better/half-asleep after the 80 minutes…for about $11!!!