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[imagebrowser id=16] Watching the plane you are supposed to get on pull away at 6:30 in the morning, for a vacation, is not the way to start a vacation.  At least that is what I thought at 6:31 when Lu and I realized there was no way we would be taking our plane.  I was so pissed!  Why did I have to park at the cheap lot?  Why did we have to have so much luggage?  Why didn't I tell security we were ... Read More

Today, we spent the day ice skating at forest park. I have to admit Lu is a much better ice skater than she is a skier. Her friend Xiang on the other hand is another story. Click on the video to see it in HD quality. httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1-1faRDeoQ Read More

Press the BlackBerry button Click Full Image Click Save Image Go to My Pictures, Set As Home Screen   Read More

Last week I walked over to the Botanical Gardens and was able to listen to Erin Bode's first set. She kicked of the first jazz concert this summer at the Botanical and was promoting her new album. I was able to record the opening song and have included it here. It's titled Out Of Time and I really like it. You can download it from the RSS feed. Go out and buy her new CD its titled ... Read More

Woke up and prepared for my first big day by myself. Lu had to travel to her parents for the day so I was on my own. Once again she had given me written directions, and all I had to do was catch a taxi to the Forbidden City. Pretty easy, and it was once at the Forbidden City I got a ticket and an audio tour and was on may way. I entered the city from the ... Read More

We arrived at Beijing via an overnight train from Xian early at about 6am. The train ride worked out great because Lu and I ended up having our own room. Usually, you have to share the room with two others. Arriving in Beijing I instantly noticed how well kept the city was compared to Shanghai. Partially, I'm sure this was because of the clean up that is going on for the upcoming Olympics but in general it felt ... Read More

Woke up this morning at about 10 am finally had a good nights sleep. I think the beer and food from last night dinner helped. Anyways, Lu and I had plans to go to the museum but we got there at about 12:30 and they had stopped selling tickets until 1pm. Strange that they only sold ticket twice a day but by the time we waited and went shopping I wasn’t really that interested in going to the museum. ... Read More

In the morning we arrived in Xi’an via train, and went straight to the McDonalds for breakfast.  Unfortunately there was no sausage egg and cheese biscuits so I settled for a spicy chicken sandwich.  This was the first time I ate american food in China and it was great. Don’t get me wrong the Chinese food is also great but for some reason McDonalds taste ten times better over seas.  After breakfast we caught a train to Xi’an to see the Terra ... Read More

Today is the day that we experienced the famous Suzhou gardens.. Suzhou is famous for it gardens and water canals.  As far as the canals the city it nowhere like Venice, most of the water canals have been replaced by streets and the few left are only for tourist boat rides and photos.  The gardens in Suzhou are famous throughout China, and where originally private.  Walking through the private gardens it make you wish that you could go back in time and ... Read More

This morning was my first adventure by alone.  Lu insisted that I go and get the deposit for the bike rentals while she took a shower.  So I headed out.  The trip was only four blocks from the hotel and all I had to do was find the bike station show them my receipt and ask for our deposit. Lu even went so far as to write on a piece of paper the sentence I had to say in Chinese and English. ... Read More