New Years Eve

WOOOOO HOOOOO

not so much the early start but breakfast made up for it.

I tried Bao Zi which is like a steamed dumpling that is filled with either meat or green vegetables Nom Nom now my favourite dish

Got the taxi at 9 got onto the train at 9 45 carriage 3 seats 51& 52 and dept 10 am to Shanghai. 

Got metro line 10 to Nanjing East (the main shopping street) then walked along the Bund 

The Metro exposed me to my first experience of seeing potty training Chinese style.....

I shall set the scene

A shiny, clean granite floor (imagine an airport floor but better) a lot of people walking around getting from one station to the next and a kid and his mum move to the side near the railing and fully clothed, he squats and does a massive poo in the middle of the metro !!!

You will be wondering how he managed this considering he was clothed, they have Slits in their Trousers what the hell!!!!

AND she didn't even clear it up she left her kids stinking poo their !

I am proud to say i have also started to get into the swing of things with traffic, learning very quickly just chuck yourself out, you are too expensive to hit !!!

Walked past the Swatch Shop which was incredible, all the watches are displayed in single elongated cabinets very clinical looking but its amazing. Checked into our hostel, Captains Youth Hostel on Yan An Road. It was like living on ship, nets seagulls port holes everything. So cool though

After dropping our bags off we went for food along the bund in subway... something i have learned is that in every store/ shop/ restaurant/ bar is over staffed they more than likely have more staff members than customers, subway a classic example of this.

one veggie sub nom nom (23.40 RMB) and my personal favourite 

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES 

china land is going up in expectations 

Went to the bank, the ATM's inside are in in phone booth type things that you have to lock the door on and they also have security cameras! its such a good idea in terms of safety England should definitely use it !

Andrew treated me to a massage at this amazing place called Green Foot

Walking through the thick dark oak wood doors, greeted by the smell of incense and then sound of falling water which trickles down the wall. You are presented with a wooden key which unlocks your personal locker where you find silk robes to change into. 

I have to say though my first guy masseuse and my first massage with 2 other guys in the room, but it was amazing. They put a sheet over you and run one of those bobbly rolling pins over you and having been deprived of a real phatt woman's arse he payed particular attention to mine and making it jiggle. He then kneeded and pumbled me and clicked every bone in my back and it felt AMAZING

Lets Party !!!

Initial thoughts on Style

Unlike my mother, I wasn't nieve enough to think that everyone would be walking around in Cheongsam's (tradional chinese dresses) sporting a parasole and bound feet. However I also didn't expect it to be so westernised.

Whilst waiting for the train from Shanghai to Nanjing we stood on the square outside the train station giving me my first opportunity to take in what everyone was wearing.

Everyone looked so.........Normal

A mixture of woolen tailored military or trench coats against the wet look black, purple or bright coloured puffer jackets with hoods trimmed with fur. Nike high tops, ankle/thigh boots but most significantly

UGGS

There is definately a new thing for uggs here, they are on every street corner, being sold in subways (the fake kind) and in pretty much every shop window. Instead "You want Gucci, Prada" they open with "You want Uggs???"

Style gods will be turning in their graves

Also LARGE Fluffy EARMUFFS

another example of what you will see every time you walk down the street

Every girl under the age of 25 seems to have a pair, i have even seen some guys wearing them

Oh and everyone is sporting a customised face mask

and for these cold times they come with extra furry insulation to keep your schnoz warm!

Nanjing Day 2

Day 2 from china land

10:30 wake up suprisingly a good night sleep considering the lack of matress lol, we got up and met everyone at an international small bar named Ellen's for breakfast.

I know i said i wanted to eat local but i needed serious sustanence to get me through the day. An American breaky nom nom the boys who are leaving to travel today have all bought 'travelling pants' (addidas trackies) which are all jumping on board of.

Headed to Deji Plaza and invested in some well needed razors, i maybe travelling but i still have standards!

Experienced Fashion Lady (an indoor market, but instead of stalls small boutique like stores) really creative, individual style, very westernised in terms of the trends of the season however own sleek slant, tiny sizes its redic these women are the same size as my thigh. lots of fakes flying around

drove around to a temple near the Yangsee river which was beautiful

Went and visited Bruce a dog they have adopted pretty much, so adorably cute. On our way back we got caught in the school traffic, no mother in england should ever complain about the school run thats all im saying

Andrew took me to the place he bought dog- although illegal it is still sold in backstreet markets and i had sadistic inregue to see this place but as soon as we pulled up and saw the entrance to the market all dimly lit and the looks people were giving us.... nooo major back pedal

we went to the dried spices and food market round the corner which was incredible the varieties of even a single mushroom were incredible. People were starring though as we were in an area that is never visited by westerners which became a little awkward at times. Funny when people are talking about you and then andrew talks back there shock/suprise/embarrasment is hilarious

we walked through the market to a houtong or shanti town like area which was sobering. People so happy and content yet they live in layered walls of corregated metal and cardboard boxes. Suprising though that the people who live in around this poor area dont look as poverty stricken as their homes would suggest.

We got caught in the middle of traffic and we could get out as we were boxed in

we were like a freakshow or travelling circus hopefully i will get used to this on our way back we drove up onto the yansee river and stopped half way to take photos of the sunsetting. it was beautiful absolutey stunning. Made me laugh when i turned around and saw a guard of the bridge standing in a plastic box having to stare at the wall instead of looking out over the river.... poor thing

i couldnt talk my lips had frozen so much they has swollen and turned blue making talking an interesting endeavour, getting off the scooter was also hilarious.. my knees had seized because of the cold winds i resembled a granny trying to get out of a chair

I have learned the words for thank you xie xie (pronounced sh sh) and goodbye zai jian (pronounced zi shen) i will be fluent by the time i return !

On the way home we went back to bird flu to get take away and ended up doing a 7 year olds homework teaching a 13 yr old some english and tasting a new type of nut (looks like a sunflower seed but you bite and it turns out like a pine nut)

China Bound

27th of Dec- D-day

• Manchester left 1.05pm flew
• Arrival in Amsterdam  30 min lay over ONLY blonde haired blue eyed white girl waiting to get on my flight

Apparently after having been in either amsterdam or england i was still an exciting exhibt as i sat down a chinese girl leant across her boyfriend with her i-phone 4 and slowly pulled it up to a sufficient level in which to capture, immortally, my travelling attire consisting of no make up trackie bottoms and the worlds biggest oversized hoody........ WHY???????

• Amsterdam- flight path Moscow, Kazikstan, cross china boarder and 4 hours left until Shanghai

So lucky seat 9B= fantastic leg room

Food not to shabby, although potatoes for breakfast not quite sure on this still

However, not so cool having both men your sat between, (1 french, 1 German) fall asleep on you

Arrived on 29th of Dec in Shanghai, where we took the magluf (high speed metro train) to the train station which cost 40 RMB (30 with a Chinese student card) which went a 300 km/h, hovers instead of running on the track and then turns like a bobsled run ahhhh but good fun.

we then got the bullet train to Nanjing however accidentally got the 2 hour instead of the 1 hr 15 we weren't originally sat together but a nice Chinese guy swapped with him.

Got off and went to get a taxi..... flocked by fake taxi drivers thinking we were dumb tourists (well 2 anyway) trying to scam 80 rmb out of us when it only costs 15 to get to andrews hotel. You need to prepare yourself for Chinese driving, there is only two rules

1. you concentrate on the person in front and hope the person is doing the same behind you
2. the use of your horn is essential so as to inform fellow drivers of your presence, when wanting to insult a fellow driver wind down your window and hurl extreme abuse

Andrew lives in a hotel, nice and clean squat toilet... wow says it all.... another tip for you

NEVER run and jump onto a Chinese bed.... you will have a bIg shock when you don't bounce back up (mattresses are thin layers of foam)

I was hungry so he took me to his local digs formally known as Bird Flu Alley. This was a real insight into the Chinese way of life and slightly sickening at first glance however if you put aside the grubbiness of the utensils and the conditions you realise they are cooking on such high heat anything you may have caught would be killed

Bird flu is also home to an indoor market.... the pictures speak for themselves

 

Whilst I'm here I'm up for trying anything and want to try and not eat western so i tried what have quickly become my favourite snack, they are like a sweet sesame pitta style bread best served freshly after cooking. We also went and got his scooter oiled before a drive round Nanjing. the bike shop was literally the guys house him and three generations live in one room which acts as his garage his kitchen, his living room and bedroom and they all share one bed. It was awe inspiring.

 Whilst waiting for the bike to be fixed i saw these interesting sites around the streets

We went for a drive round to the shopping mall andrew worked in selling lancolme and visited the lake which was beautiful. There are surprisingly a lot of christmas decorations around combined with rabbit figurines which i correctly guessed was due to it being the year of the rabbit!

Came back and went to the bar Talking across the road from the hotel and met his friends, a beer being 50p for a litre beer HELLOOOOOOOO





CHINA- how it all began....

Soooo i have new boyfriend well, hes not new but in terms of this blog he is (what can i say, i have been ever so slightly distracted... besides a long distance relationship takes work !) anyway.... he is at university in Nanjing, China (the former captial) studying mandarin so it provides the perfect excuse to go and see him whilst exploring the realms of one of the forthcoming BRIC fashion markets and supremely different cultures of the world



My limited experience with china began when i was around four or five and my vague memory recalls sitting in a dimly lit chinese restaurant in Yately, Hampshire with the willow patterned dishes and spoons and attempting to use chopsticks. This progressed to the Waterbeach (in cambridge) chinese takeaway next to The Village Green which was run by my chinese friend Zeeman Wan's family. My godmother used to refer to it as the chinky and it usually graced out lap trays on a saturday night. Nom nom. Other than several chinese buffets, new yorks little restaurant and an ever increasing undieing love for prawn crackers (M&S's own are my personal recommendation) i have a very limited knowledge of the place.

It has always been a place of intregee to me, a communist country... no facebook!!!, such a rich history and such beautiful silks and clothing however im not going to lie with only a few short days to go until i leave the thought of the place is beginning to terrfiy me...

all this aside i am going with an OPEN MIND and NO expectations woooo hooo

Here i come ChInA

3 things i think we should have in britain they have there

1) The quality of the lifts the ones in macy's are insanely quick



2) A box of extra things to try on in the changing room in victoria secret they provided you with a box of bras to try on of your size when you went in. These were all different colours, shapes and styles and encouraged you to try something different. It also meant if you didnt like anything you had brought in to the changing room, you woudnt necessarily have to go back to find something else to try on.



3) More deli type food stores these are such lovely places! and they embrace local produce of a good quality and have such a diverse range of one product who needs supermarkets !

Top ten recommendations for nyc !

1) Invest in a 3 day bus ticket !!! these things are a god send as a) it provides you with transportation, whenever you need it b) you get to see everything of interest you could possibly think of and c) you get to know little quirks of information that you wouldnt get if you were walking on your owm



2) Go up rockafella rather than empire state if you go up rockafella you are able to see the empire state and central park ! you get a ful view of manhatten and parts of new jersey and brooklyn its far better this way



3) Go up rockafella (in the winter) around 4:15 pm if you go up at this time you get to see the skyline during the day, at dusk and when its dark ! we got some amazing pictures of the sunset and it looks absolutely beautiful



4) Ask the locals on the best places to eat that arent so touristy we were introduced two fantastic little places that werent packed with tourists so we got to experience american culture at its best and meet some lovely people in the process



5) Befriend a someone in a small restaurant and keep going back there !they appreciate your loyalty and may even treat you to a few extras for free :)



6) Go to the rodeo if you have the opportunity it is a fantastic experience very fun and even if you dont stay for all of it you will have had an eventful and suprising evening



7) Go and see a sports match of some sort we went to see the knicks and like the rodeo you have to experience the american way of supporting. you my even get to see a cheesy proposal on the big screen !



8) Talk to the locals and see whether their are any events going on these wont be plagued by tourists and again you will get to experience something different we found out about the rodeo through talking to poilcemen



9) Plan your days it seems so obvious but we decided what we wanted to get done each day and then if we had time to spare would add things on as we went so we made sure we made the most of things. Its a small city however there is so much to do



10) finally go to central Park its amazing and i wish i had spent longer there to get a look around the whole thing. Even when it is absolutely freezing it was beautiful