Jia and I left shortly before 1pm on Tuesday for Guangzhou. There was no way to get to the U.S. consulate by 9am on Wednesday from Shenzhen. Our plan was to find a cheap place to stay nearby and then meet her friend before getting to sleep early.
Finding lodging was more difficult than we thought. The first place was run by the guy I mentioned in the previous post. He really wasn't friendly and I didn't trust him. The second guy to show us a place to stay was only slightly better. Again, we were shown a shared apartment for more than 200 a night--far too much for the quality. Then, the guy mentioned he knew of a nearby hotel that was reasonable. He handed us 100 kuai and said it was OK because he'd get the money back for referring us. This turned out to be a find.
The Jianghe Hotel was only a 7 kuai cab ride from the consulate and it looked clean. There was also an Italian place next door with great prices and food called 37°2 Bistro. There are also two other locations in Guangzhou. Jia had smoked salmon and pesto spaghetti and I had a salmon and mushroom pizza (both quite good).
After checking in, we decided to go meet Jia's friend from university, his girlfriend, and another of his friends at Danny's Bagel. I wrote about this place the last time I was in Guangzhou, but I only tried the bagel there. This time we went all out on dinner. We were there just in time for happy hour (2 for 1 half-liter Tiger beer for 25 kuai). Jia and I split a chicken parm sandwich and sun-dried tomatoes and feta pasta. Jia is still raving about the chicken parm. I have to admit, that sandwich caused my third bout of homesickness in more than two years in China--all because of a sandwich I haven't had in about four years and which costs about $5 back home.
We spent a bit of time talking with Danny about the visa appointment. He gave Jia some pointers about answering questions (which she ended up not needing) and read through our material to see if we had everything we should. We told him he should open a shop in Shenzhen, but I'm thinking we're better off without it--I'd eat there too often and get fat.
After all the material we put together (nearly 40 pages), we didn't need it. The consular officer looked over her application form, asked where she was going, what her job was, what my job was, and when our contracts expire. Apparently, the two officers on either side of Jia's were asking lots of questions. I guess we got lucky. At least now we can really start planning our vacation--I'm still trying to figure out a way of getting out to Denver/Boulder for a little while.
Showing posts with label hotels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hotels. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Thursday, October 04, 2007
A little luck
I took a day in Macau yesterday. I needed to get out of Shenzhen for a little while to relax and make me feel like I'm really having a holiday. Of course, it required me waking up early to take the bus to the ferry port in Shekou, but it was worth it. The last time I went to Macau, Jia and I went through Zhuhai. This time I spent a few extra kuai to take the ferry directly to the outer harbor port.
I guess it was a great choice--it certainly saved time on the border crossing and the port was only about a 10-minute walk from Senado Square. I was also surprised with the customs officers on both sides--they were really polite and even spoke a little (the officer on the mainland side even wished me a good trip). I thought it might be a good omen if I decided to gamble a little. Of course, the other omen was sitting on the ferry reading Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead--the whole opening scene about probability couldn't be a good sign.
I decided to have a look at the new Grand Lisboa, billed as the largest casino in the world. It is an impressive structure that looks like an ode to excess. I like the architecture of the old one across the street much more. The building isn't complete--the top floors are still under construction. The casino is split into a lot of smaller rooms that are rather quiet, probably because the crowd is split into different areas of the hotel.
After wandering around the gaming areas (one sign was "gameing") of the Grand Lisboa, I headed across the way to the Wynn. I was much more impressed. It had more of a hotel feel than a casino. The staff was also more friendly--the Grand Lisboa didn't even acknowledge my existence (except when walking through security to the casino rooms).
Other than those casinos, I wandered around the city. I had no particular destination set, but I found some cool buildings (mostly Portuguese designs) and parks. I also had an interesting time conversing with some shopkeepers (I think I managed to find everyone in Macau who didn't speak English or Mandarin, only Cantonese). For my early dinner, I found a new restaurant near Senado Square--I asked if one of the dishes had pork. The answer was, "It's not spicy." So, I asked in Chinese and the answer was, "meiyou." Sure enough, it had pork. I also went to buy some smoked, dried beef. I asked how much it cost and the shopkeeper pointed to a red blob on a sign. When I pointed out that I couldn't read it, he pointed to another sign that had a red blob. I walked away and went to another store that had clear prices.
The best part of the trip was definitely finding the grocery store with the great coffee. They raised their prices since last year (last year it was 20 kuai a pound, this year 40), but it's cheaper than most coffee in Shenzhen. I still bought a pound of mocha to enjoy. At least the woman working there spoke Mandarin Chinese, even though I didn't understand when she asked if I wanted the coffee ground (vocabulary I don't know).
I guess it was a great choice--it certainly saved time on the border crossing and the port was only about a 10-minute walk from Senado Square. I was also surprised with the customs officers on both sides--they were really polite and even spoke a little (the officer on the mainland side even wished me a good trip). I thought it might be a good omen if I decided to gamble a little. Of course, the other omen was sitting on the ferry reading Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead--the whole opening scene about probability couldn't be a good sign.
I decided to have a look at the new Grand Lisboa, billed as the largest casino in the world. It is an impressive structure that looks like an ode to excess. I like the architecture of the old one across the street much more. The building isn't complete--the top floors are still under construction. The casino is split into a lot of smaller rooms that are rather quiet, probably because the crowd is split into different areas of the hotel.
After wandering around the gaming areas (one sign was "gameing") of the Grand Lisboa, I headed across the way to the Wynn. I was much more impressed. It had more of a hotel feel than a casino. The staff was also more friendly--the Grand Lisboa didn't even acknowledge my existence (except when walking through security to the casino rooms).
Other than those casinos, I wandered around the city. I had no particular destination set, but I found some cool buildings (mostly Portuguese designs) and parks. I also had an interesting time conversing with some shopkeepers (I think I managed to find everyone in Macau who didn't speak English or Mandarin, only Cantonese). For my early dinner, I found a new restaurant near Senado Square--I asked if one of the dishes had pork. The answer was, "It's not spicy." So, I asked in Chinese and the answer was, "meiyou." Sure enough, it had pork. I also went to buy some smoked, dried beef. I asked how much it cost and the shopkeeper pointed to a red blob on a sign. When I pointed out that I couldn't read it, he pointed to another sign that had a red blob. I walked away and went to another store that had clear prices.
The best part of the trip was definitely finding the grocery store with the great coffee. They raised their prices since last year (last year it was 20 kuai a pound, this year 40), but it's cheaper than most coffee in Shenzhen. I still bought a pound of mocha to enjoy. At least the woman working there spoke Mandarin Chinese, even though I didn't understand when she asked if I wanted the coffee ground (vocabulary I don't know).
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Beginning the travels
Before I start my story of the journey, I want to write about something a little strange that happened today. I found that I had a poem published. I submitted the poem more than a year ago and it was just published. But I never received any correspondence informing me of such. I'm still quite happy about this, just a little confused.
Anyway, the day before I left for Beijing to meet my family, I had to finish moving some of my stuff into a friend's apartment for storage (thanks again for that). The last piece I moved was my giant inflatable Kingway beer bottle. This was a fun journey through the neighborhood--everyone was screaming, "Da pijiu!" (Big beer). The best was the little boy by the dumpling shop who shouted, "Mom, mom, look! A foreigner. He has a big beer!" I almost fell over laughing--sometimes I wonder how good my Chinese skills are when that's the sentence I can translate.
My journey began the following day with catching an early bus to the airport. I waited. And waited. It was about 45 minutes of standing by the highway, waiting for one of two buses. Finally, I decided to see if I could find another bus to take me. One pulled up and I asked the ticket girl if the bus went to the airport and she hurriedly waved me aboard. I took my seat and she came by again to sell me a ticket. "Ni qu na li?" (Where are you going?") "Ji chang." ("airport"). She looked confused. I repeated my destination and included the name of the airport. She then told me they didn't go there. They stopped the bus at another bus stop down the highway to let me off as I yelled at the ticket girl for not listening to my earlier question. Fortunately, one of the buses I wanted just happened to be a short distance behind.
My flight left Shenzhen late. I didn't mind much as I was set to arrive an hour before my family and they would have to go through customs. What I didn't realize was that my flight arrived at the other terminal. So, I took my luggage on a nice long walk through the crowded Beijing airport. As I approached the Starbucks (no, I don't like their coffee, it's just a convenient meeting place), I ran into my parents and brother--they were early. Perfect timing.
We somehow managed to fit all our luggage into one taxi (better than paying 450 kuai for a van). The driver took us to the Harmony Hotel, right near the train station. Slight problem there, China International Travel Service never sent our reservation to the hotel even though my father pre-paid online. We got in a fight on the phone with them--they denied ever doing anything wrong (just wait til they have to deal with a credit card company that won't pay up). Fortunately, the Harmony Hotel did have two rooms for us for one night--we'd just have to find somewhere else for the rest of our time. It was disappointing, it was a nice hotel with cheap prices. We ended up at the Novotel by Chongwenmen subway station (same place we stayed last year). We had everything set for time in Beijing, except for our plans of what to do.
That night, I went out with my brother for some beer near the hotel. There were no bars, just restaurants. I was quite shocked when I saw our bill. The waiter said, "6 kuai." I thought he meant each, but it was the total. I couldn't believe the beer was that cheap.
Anyway, the day before I left for Beijing to meet my family, I had to finish moving some of my stuff into a friend's apartment for storage (thanks again for that). The last piece I moved was my giant inflatable Kingway beer bottle. This was a fun journey through the neighborhood--everyone was screaming, "Da pijiu!" (Big beer). The best was the little boy by the dumpling shop who shouted, "Mom, mom, look! A foreigner. He has a big beer!" I almost fell over laughing--sometimes I wonder how good my Chinese skills are when that's the sentence I can translate.
My journey began the following day with catching an early bus to the airport. I waited. And waited. It was about 45 minutes of standing by the highway, waiting for one of two buses. Finally, I decided to see if I could find another bus to take me. One pulled up and I asked the ticket girl if the bus went to the airport and she hurriedly waved me aboard. I took my seat and she came by again to sell me a ticket. "Ni qu na li?" (Where are you going?") "Ji chang." ("airport"). She looked confused. I repeated my destination and included the name of the airport. She then told me they didn't go there. They stopped the bus at another bus stop down the highway to let me off as I yelled at the ticket girl for not listening to my earlier question. Fortunately, one of the buses I wanted just happened to be a short distance behind.
My flight left Shenzhen late. I didn't mind much as I was set to arrive an hour before my family and they would have to go through customs. What I didn't realize was that my flight arrived at the other terminal. So, I took my luggage on a nice long walk through the crowded Beijing airport. As I approached the Starbucks (no, I don't like their coffee, it's just a convenient meeting place), I ran into my parents and brother--they were early. Perfect timing.
We somehow managed to fit all our luggage into one taxi (better than paying 450 kuai for a van). The driver took us to the Harmony Hotel, right near the train station. Slight problem there, China International Travel Service never sent our reservation to the hotel even though my father pre-paid online. We got in a fight on the phone with them--they denied ever doing anything wrong (just wait til they have to deal with a credit card company that won't pay up). Fortunately, the Harmony Hotel did have two rooms for us for one night--we'd just have to find somewhere else for the rest of our time. It was disappointing, it was a nice hotel with cheap prices. We ended up at the Novotel by Chongwenmen subway station (same place we stayed last year). We had everything set for time in Beijing, except for our plans of what to do.
That night, I went out with my brother for some beer near the hotel. There were no bars, just restaurants. I was quite shocked when I saw our bill. The waiter said, "6 kuai." I thought he meant each, but it was the total. I couldn't believe the beer was that cheap.
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