Adventuring: A Travelblogue with Photos

By Ciel - About Me - E-mail this page - Add to My Favorites - Add to Blog List - See other blogs in Travel

Monday, April 8, 2019

Beijing Shopping Tour

Today we had a private tour with an English-speaking guide who not only showed us around the public market shops, but also bargained with the vendors to get us the best prices. Two machine-embroidered cashmere scarves offered at 1400 yuan we got for 160. Charlie found a hat originally at 200 yuan... Sign in to see full entry.

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Saturday, April 6, 2019

Real Chinese Food

We don't get real Chinese food in the US, at least not where I have ever lived. I am sitting here in the hotel now, eating moo shu pork and braised eggplant. What they call moo shu pork here is totally different from what is meant by that in the US, where it is served with a light rice pancake, and... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 11:48 PM | add or view comments (3) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Tea at the Pagoda and Other Adventures

We went back to the little enclave of the Monk Wansong Pagoda for the second time since the first visit, sat at the little table and had tea. We watched the big white cat whom Charlie has named Pookah, spying out his special napping nests here and there. Yesterday he--Pookah, that is--was lively,... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 3:07 PM | add or view comments (0) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Zoo Day

We took a taxi to the zoo this morning to save my back and hips from strain, and for the same reason, used a wheelchair at the zoo. We left a deposit of 500 yuan and my passport so we would not run off with it, or abandon it somewhere. This isn't a rental, it is a free thing, so that was a pleasant... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 2:37 AM | add or view comments (1) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Thursday, April 4, 2019

Sometimes only cash is good enough

Advice I got before the trip has turned out to be not exactly reflective of reality. For one thing, some restaurants--pretty fancy places--smiled and nodded when I showed my Discover card before we ordered. When it came time to pay the bill, however, they wanted cash only. This episode also brought... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 2:33 PM | add or view comments (0) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Everything is BIG!

We were picked up for our day of touring at 6:40 this morning, five minutes before the hotel's breakfast buffet opened. We were able to grab a few bits of hand food, and some bananas, but certainly that was not the breakfast we'd looked forward to! The bus driver whisked us off to pick up two other... Sign in to see full entry.

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Wednesday, April 3, 2019

The Pagoda of Monk Wansong

This small, plain pagoda sits in a small square garden just off one of the main streets a few blocks from our hotel. The cherry trees are full of pale pink that are in constant attendance by chubby black bees an an occasional white butterfly. There is a pomegranite tree with a few of last year's... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 11:42 AM | add or view comments (2) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Beijing Breakfast

We just made our first visit to the hotel dining room for the 4 USD breakfast buffet. It was a wonderful array of not-Western foods! Pot-stickers and steamed buns, stir-fried vegies of several kinds, baked winter squash, eggs hard-boiled in tea... congees of rice and of corn--congee is a watery... Sign in to see full entry.

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Saturday, March 16, 2019

Cash isn't always good enough.

In some parts of the world, a traveler needs to have a specific credit card to make purchases. In China, for instance, we've reserved at a hotel that only accepts Union Pay cards.* This is a card issued by the Bank of China, and to apply for it, you have to go in person to a BoC branch. The only... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 11:12 AM | add or view comments (3) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Tuesday, March 5, 2019

shots for overseas travel

So, traveling out of country is more expensive than just the plane fare... Passport if you don't already have one currently valid, Visa, add $20-several hundred... Travel immunizations... several hundred bucks depending on which ones you need. The Yellow Fever shot is $150 ish, and I am glad that... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 10:19 AM | add or view comments (1) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

About this Blog

Celebrating travel! If you think the world is too big, or the language barriers too high, come along with me, as I bumble my way here and there... The world really is an accessible place-- not as expensive to explore as one might imagine, nor are the language barriers as high, nor the mood of people beyond our borders unwelcoming... ***If you want good prints of any of my photos, email me and I will let you know how to get them. Please respect my copyright on these, they are my retirement account!

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