Mutianyu! (慕田峪长城)

On Friday it was a gorgeous day to have our hike to the Great Wall section of Mutianyu. The bus was 30 mins late but once we got on, we slept a bit (2 hrs) and then we reached the hike portion. The mutianyu section is older than the badaling section of the Great Wall.

The hike started from the village then up, up we went. Through the path we hiked up past the trees, bushes and at some point it got tighter and tighter together as all the trees were cloistered all over. After about 1 1/2 of walking on the trail, the wall peaks out at you and surprises you. Must be what it was like thousands of years ago when the invaders stumbled upon this giant wall! I had to climb through an open window and slowly climb up the section of the wall...Everywhere we turned was filled in with green--the mountains in the distance, the trees sprouting on the wall itself, the flower bush on the steps and each step you take you are surrounded by the green that had taken over the wall. We kept moving forward until we reached one of the towers and the view was insane! This is a view that you have to experience because it's so hard to capture the moment and the thoughts going through your mind. Even having been there at that moment, words did not come to mind of how to describe it.

 

The view from one of the towers on the Great Wall! 

After the first tower we continued walking through the forest of greens until we reached a halfway point where we had to cross a broken down section of the wall and that was just plain scary! On both side you could see if you slipped and fell you'd tumble your way through the forest beneath. 

After that scary part, we finally reached the normal restored section of the wall (THANK YOUU) and rested up a bit before trekking down the wall and back to the bus station. 

 

Such blue skies hiking that day

After the hike back down, we came back exhausted, sweaty and after a nice shower I passed the 'eff out!

Weekend Update: Nan Luo Gu Xiang ( 南锣鼓巷）

I'VE BEEN HERE FOR A WEEK! and 3 days haha.

I've survived the first week of training and have about 4 more days of training then the kids arrive on Sunday! Since we had the weekend off, I decided to meet up with mohos! Songqiao is in Beijing so we met up around her hood--Nan luo gu xiang! Saturday decided to pour so it was nice because it wasn't as crowded because people are scared of rain here! Like huddle at the train station exit to wait for the rain to stop. An '08 moho was in Beijing too so we all went to eat at a Japanese place where we had to wait for 6 other tables to leave before we could be seated. While waiting, we went next door to Irresistible Cafe where we met the cutest puppy and cats! We ordered our drinks, chatted then finally got the call to go to the restaurant.

The place was called Suzuki Kitchen--I ordered the set meal of pork cutlet curry while Songqiao had the beef hotpot which was banging!

After food, we went to Songqiao's place and she lives conveniently in the hutongs! So jealous she has roof access around that area, I'd never leave the house if that was the case. She had some errands to run so I passed out for a nap haha

Nap-time passed and we headed towards Galaxy SoHo where the 2nd Craft Beer Festival was happening. We really wanted the taco there but by the time we arrived they were closing but we scored some last min free tacos! (It would have cost 40 rmb) After some tacos, we headed toward the beers and of course more food.

 

 

After a taster of beers and food, we headed to San Li Tun'r for some Mexican Food at Cantina Agave.

CPR/First Aid Training as well as visiting the Dandelion School for migrant children

Where do I even begin?!

The day before we started our journey early in the morning to the main subway station Liang ma qiao to take different subways to the outskirts of Beijing to take a bus to an even further location to walk to the school--Dandelion School.

The dandelion school is not a very interesting concept but the social implementation of the school itself. This is a middle school for migrant children. This is the ONLY school (as of right now) recognized by the Beijing government as an official migrant school. It's also a NGO school whose mission is to give a chance to these children and give them a nurturing environment to be who they want to be.

The migrant issue in China has been a big issue especially since it's such an influx population as each year passes on. The government also has discriminatory laws against migrants which makes the gap between the 'natives' and 'immigrants' bigger in the eyes of the government. 

Being at the school and having the opportunity to see and interact with these children makes me believe in so much more can happen if we just believe. If we just believe in an ultimate goal or idea, things can happen. The school had such a vibrant aura around the community and it just brings a warm feeling to your heart. They had a great open space as a school, a community and family. It was a great honor to be able to be part of something like that...We will be back at the school again when our scholars (our group of kids) arrive and spend a weekend at the school interacting with these children.

 

The mural at the school the kids painted! 

We tend to forget how good we have it because we never really escape the thing we call our life. We are too busy with our heads in our ass ( for lack of a better word) to even realize that are those who are less fortunate than ourselves, who can't even complain or even have an opportunity to complain because they are too busy trying to better themselves and live whatever life they can.



Check out the school's website if you want to learn more:

http://www.dandelionschool.org/a/ENGLISH/list_85_1.html


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On a different note....Today I had CPR and First Aid Training all day at Beijing United Hospital around my living quarters. It was such a long day, but I can finally say I can sorta, kinda, give CPR if needed! Sounds so convincing right? lol

 

I know how to tie an arm sling! 

  

certified until 2015!  

Back to Beijing once again!

I am thoroughly exhausted right now... I just came back from a staff retreat camping weekend at Huang hua cheng section of the Great Wall (also known as 水长城 Shui chang cheng).


It was a great experience and bonding session since we just started working together and will be together for the summer. We left Saturday morning early to take the shuttle up to the Great Wall. Once we made our way to the entrance, we hiked up to the camping site with our backpacks filled with food, supplies and tents.
This was my first time actually camping--like woods, bugs and pitching tent status! It was very exciting to learn about that and do all the outdoorsy things that came along with that...

We decided to wake up early to catch the sunrise today, but sadly due to the mountains we weren't able to watch the actual sunrise. It just kept getting brighter and brighter. While people went back to sleep, I decided to take that time to walk around the area and take photos. I climbed onto sections of the wall that said 'no climbing' but there was no one around so I did it. It was worth it because it was gorgeous!
Having that serenity around you just allows you to be so content with where you are in life. It also makes you wonder about the structure that was built so long ago and yet it still stands somewhat intact. All the effort, blood and sweat to build each and every brick.

I didn't climb all the way to the top where the towers were because 1. I'm scared of heights and also 2. I still respect part of the sign lol Even though I didn't go all the way, I definitely pushed my comfort zone and attempted the climb half way. The satisfaction of getting the view all to myself was worth it enough.


After the morning climb/stroll, went back to sleep for another hour before waking up to make pancakes with the rest of the team while it decided to rain. We had a tarp thankfully set-up last night so we weren't soaked when it poured around us.

After breakfast, we had to get ready to head back down to return to our retrospective homes. It feels so good to shower again! No lie, I am so sore right now from the hike, climbing, walking, and backpacking portion of the trip... I sound like a wimp lol

I have tomorrow off, so I hope to take that chance to sleep in and explore the city again. Wish me luck! I really hope I don't get lost because that would suck.

Leaving..again to Asia!

Been a while since I've update this blog...about 7 months or so from my South East Asia tour (Thailand/Singapore/Malaysia).

After working a day job (receptionist gig) for half a year, it is time to leave the city again and head East towards China this time around. It has been about 3 or so years since I've been back to Beijing! Last time I was there, I was still in college!!

I'm really excited and nervous to join the J! team in Beijing as a Summer Program Facilitator and meet the great group of kids joining us this summer!

Hopefully I can by-pass the great firewall of China and update this blog when I have free time!

--off to get my visa and pack my summer life away!

Bangkok Adventures--Temple Hopping

After a good night rest, I was ready to actually walk instead of hobble walking due to the itchiness of the bites. The diagnosis of the doc--they are insect bites. What insect? ...Insects... Thanks doc for that clarification... -____- Well, at least after the medication it didn't itch as much thankfully.

We had another long day ahead of us. We walked down to the ferry to take us up the river to Wat Pho as well as the Grand Palace and the Amulet Market in the city. Getting to the ferry took us about an hour due to the fact that we were lost for a while and had to walk like 3 intersection back (equivalent to 6 avenue blocks!!!). We finally reached the ferry and we were informed that there were only two more ferries for the day. Luckily, we got on the 2nd to last ferry out of the pier.

 

Ferry Stop

 

Giant Stone Statue

 

Meeeow! Cat punch!

 

Candle and Buddhas

 

Welcome to Wat Po

 

The tourist didn't know how to take our photo...le sigh~

We took it up to Wat Pho and proceeded to tour around the temple. Wat Pho has the reclining Buddha as well as giant stone statues at most of the doorways. I think the reclining Buddha in Wat Pho is the 3rd biggest one in Thailand?...

 

Lines of Buddha everywhere

 

Siamese cats of the temple

 

Do not touch the butt hehehe

108 Bronze bowls to represent auspicious characteristics of the Buddha 

After Wat Pho, we were starving so we headed to eat and then even though we were stuffed, we bought some mango from the mango lady. As we walked to the Grand Palace, it looked like it was about to pour so we headed in, but found out it was about 400 baht to enter. We decided to not do the Grand Palace and find the Amulet Market instead. I recently got a protecting amulet from my cousin so I wanted to find a necklace for it that didn't irritate my neck. As we were walking and stopped to look at necklaces, it started to pour. Luckily, the necklace place did have the kind of beads I was looking for and we sat there while the guy placed the amulet on the necklace.

After the rain let up, we attempted to find another temple. While trying to find the temple, we head monks meditating so we followed the meditation and sat in while they were doing it. My legs were so numb at the end, but,  it was nice to hear meditation and be part of something that tourists rarely get to take part in.

 

Sunset

We missed the time to climb the temple which apparently offered a great view of the city, but I think hearing meditation trumps that. We couldn't find a cab to bring us back during rush hour so we had to settle for a tuk tuk.  Once we made it back to the hostel, we went for dinner and had more drinks afterward with friends we made at the hostel.

Back to Bangkok again --Silom Road

Taking the mini bus back, we got back to Bangkok also around mid-afternoon before catching a cab from Victory Monument to our Hostel--WE Bangkok.

As soon as we checked-in, it started to POUR! We tend to be lucky in the sense that we never got caught in the rain with our stuff. After we put our stuff down, we asked where the closest clinic was so I could get my legs checked out. Luckily, it wasn't very far from the hostel so I hobbled there like a penguin to get it checked out. Even the people at the hostel was like, WHOA, what happened?

They seemed to have swollen up more overnight and I was tempted to pop them. It looked like they would pop by themselves too. Went into the clinic and the doc was like 'how can I help you?' I showed him my feet and he was like have a seat lol.  I sat down, he examined my feet and then called for a needle, cleaned it and started to work on my legs. He popped them, squeezed them with a cotton swab and then put ointment on them. He basically repeated this for about 20 mins.

After they have all been popped, he gave me some colorful pills to eat until they get better. I haven't seen pink,green or even blue pills in a long time.

We took it easy the first night back into the city so  met some new friends at the hostel and went to see LOOPER the movie with Bruce Willis. After the movie, we headed back to the hostel for drinks and called it a night.