| | Before I started at Google, I decided I deserved two months of vacation in between jobs :P That's right...two solid months of sitting around in my PJs all day. Some might say it would get boring...mindless...lonely...etc. I say best two months EVER. My butt left a permanent indent in the couch. Ahh - the memories.
Ok, so I *did* actually leave the house during that time. I decided it was time my Chinese face visit the land where it got it's Chinesey-ness from. That's right...China!! I had never been to China, and my Mom hadn't been back since she was in infant, so the two of us buddied up and took a little trip together. Mother-daughter bonding at its best!
Commence fobbiness at Tienamenn Square --
Forbidden City....looking more overcrowded than forbidden
Temple of Heaven
BIRD'S NEST!!! (P.S. When I told Alice I was visiting "Birds Nest" she laughed cuz she thought I was talking about an actual nest.....apparently, she missed the entire 2008 Olympics  )
Water cube. (Dear Alice, this holds the official 2008 Olympic pool. Love, Sophia)
My Mom walked 3 whole chunks/legs/segments (whats the official term?) of the Great Wall. And back! It was NOT a casual hike. We were both proud of her  . At one point she asked "how much further till the end??" The guide was like, "Umm..thousands of miles??"
Amaaaazing views.
Flew to Xi'An to see the famous Terracotta soldiers. Pretty mind blowing in real life -- each dude behind me is life size! Well, almost. I could probably beat one in a wrestling match (assuming size determined winner...not amount of clay in body)
...and they are uncovered in this state. Archeologists are still working daily to piece it all together. Crazy! Imagine the patience....I'm pretty sure I'd be rubber cementing horse heads to soldier bodies after like five of them. Be like, "Ehh...close enough".
Then we went to outer space. Otherwise known as The Bund in Shanghai.
We went to a few other cities -- Hangzhou, Suzhou...but my memory is starting to fail me (I am 27 after all). So here's a scenic garden in one of those cities. I loved those floaty plant things in the water. My mom did NOT get the fascination.
Temple #8271823719283. Oh wait, the name of the temple is probably on that rock. Unfortunately for you, I cant read Chinese. You're stuck with the name "Temple #812739813798173" (yah...so what, the number changed. I don't have time to be typing all those numbers in specific order. I have better things to do with my time...like ped-egg my foot).
Sometimes on our tour, we got swindled into factories to encourage us to spend the all mighty dollar. Most of them were snooze-fest 2008, but the silk worm factory was actually AWESOME. Each of these balls is a silk worm cocoon...and the machine is spooling the thread from the cocoons simultationsly. You could watch them unravel. The sad part is that the hard-working worm inside -> dead.
And finally, here's an incriminating photo of my Mom eating street food. Stinky tofu that. And PEEE-YEW did it stink! My dad specfically told us not to eat street food, but we while the cat's away....
We ate all kinds of dirty foods in Shanghai. Let me tell you, Dad was right....it did not end pretty. I'll give you a clue...starts with di- and ends with -arrhea. Flight home was NOT pretty.
On that note, I should end this entry here. In summary, China = awesome. Street food = not smart.
Thanks Mom for traveling with me. Love you 
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| | Posted 3/11/2009 1:01 AM - 1791 Views - 46 eProps - 28 comments
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