Day 31: RIP Professor Wade Lancaster

Location: Leaving Hong Kong

While we were in China the shipboard community received tragic news. On the first day in China Professor Wade Lancaster passed away from natural causes. He was 70 years old. 

In all of the chaos while I was waiting for the ship and the Chinese government to clear my dad to come on board in Shanghai I knew that something was up. I was waiting at the Purser's desk for some paperwork and there were too many deans and professors walking around talking. When I was standing outside with my dad, some people walked up to Bob to ask him directions to the hospital. I had assumed that a student had gotten into some trouble.

Professor Wade Lancaster's wife, Jeanette Lancaster, was also teaching on the ship. Questions began swirling about who would teach their classes, if Jeanette Lancaster would return, and how he died.

He was actually on a field lab with his Service Marketing class and they were on the bus returning back to the ship when he had a heart attack. Jeanette, as expected, flew home with him from Shanghai. A professor that was already on board the ship took over her Health Promotions class. Dr. Gary Oliphant is teaching Wade's Service Marketing course. By the time we arrived back on the ship in Hong Kong, we were told that Jeanette was planning to return to the ship in Singapore with her brother to continue the voyage. Strangely enough, there was very little said about the tragic news we all received once we arrived back on the ship.

It is hard to believe that I have been on board this ship for one month. It's hard to comprehend that I have traveled across the Pacific Ocean, through that terrible storm, explored two countries that were completely unknown to me, and enjoyed one of the countries with Dad. My classes are a quarter complete for the semester, I've had a round of midterms, enjoyed my first taco day on board the ship, and made many new life-long friends. It is a bitter sweet feeling to know it's flying by so quickly. I'm excited to see what the future will hold on this journey. Only the Lord knows what's in store and I pray that I can absorb the culture in each country and get my arms around the fact that the world is really small. 

There is not much to talk about in the days right after we leave a port. For the most part, besides going to class, eating, and a little bit of homework a lot of my time is spent catching up on sleep. I try to make the most of my time while in port because I always think that I can sleep on the ship. While that is true, it is so hard to get back into a routine when we are on the ship.

After dinner we watched Taken 2 in Alexa and Sawyer's room. Great movie! Everyone that had seen Taken was skeptical about watching Taken 2. Totally worth watching! At the same time, I'm not sure why on earth we watched that movie as we are traveling around the world visiting all kinds of strange places.

Day 30: Goodbye, Dad!

Location: Hong Kong

Before we left for our adventures for the day I had to pack up most of my stuff. We weren't exactly sure when we would be back to the hotel and I couldn't be late to board the ship if we were running late. When Yuki and the driver picked us up from the hotel we went to the largest (or most popular) temple in Hong Kong. Buddhism and Taoism are both practiced at this temple making it pretty dang popular.

We weren't able to take pictures inside of the temple and it was raining so these are all I have.

Yuki thought that this "market" would be a pretty cool place for us to see. She called it a "market." I would consider it was more like going to a fair. It was set up especially for the New Year celebration.

The market/fair that is only held during the Chinese New Year Celebration. 

There were rows and rows of stands selling all kinds of flowers. 

These are a few of the many plants and flowers that were for sale at the market. 

The orange plants are like tangerines. They were everywhere decorating for the Chinese New Year Celebration.

A few rows of food. The rest of the stalls were selling much of the same things such as t-shirts, key chains, purses, dresses, and other trinkets.

We got done with the market/fair just at the peak of the lunch hour. We decided that it would be too chaotic if we went to lunch now so we drove up to the top of Victoria Peak. By the time we got up there it was way to foggy for us to even see a few feet in front of us. But heck, now I can say that I have been to the top of Victoria Peak!

Dad wanted to have a little bit of Korean food. We had barbecued Korean. It was quite tasty. We cooked the meat ourselves in front of us on a grill. They gave us rice that was freshly cooked. And then gave us 6-8 cold dishes containing vegetables, meats, salads, and fish. We had about an hour left until I would have to head to the ship. We went back to the hotel so I could quickly write my postcards and finishing packing. I made sure to get all my stuff done as fast as I could so that I could get a little bit more ice cream before I had to get on the ship.

When we got to the terminal dad and Yuki walked as far as they could with me to the ship. They were stopped just before I got in the line to board. By then, I had about an hour to get on the ship before I would be "granted" dock time. I said "good bye and thank you" to my dad. He traveled half way around the world just so that he could hang out with me in China. He's pretty great! I was so excited to see him and hang out with him. It was nice to see a familiar face and get to talk to someone. Thanks, Dad!! I got on the ship in time faster than I expected and did not receive dock time. <Whew!> 

Dock time is given out for multiple reasons. In this case if you have not dropped your passport off at the purser's desk and swiped your card by "on ship time" (typically 1800) you will receive dock time. You may recall that for every 15 minutes you're late getting back on the ship, you receive 1 hour "dock time" at the next port. AND, they broadcast your name for all to know!! If you have 12 hours of dock time from India then you won't be getting off the ship for 13 days (because you will be stuck on the ship while we are docked in Mauritius). That sounds terrible to me!

Story time is pretty much a necessity when we all get back on the ship. We all share our adventures with our friends. Dinner is a pretty good time to share our adventures.

After dinner, I grabbed my camera and went out to the sixth deck to watch us pull out of Hong Kong. We would have to travel down river with the cityscape in the background. At 8pm, we were all told that there would be a light show. The light show was kinda lame without music. But lots of buildings would light up at different times with laser lights.

Tidbits about China: 
1. I never want to actually drive in China. Sitting in the car is just an experience in itself. 2. Now I want heated floors at my house. 
3. Seeing the Chinese culture prepare for their New Year was definitely an experience (as they decorate or prepare to travel to spend time with their family). 
4. We saw people doing their "business" and throwing up on the streets. 
5. Purchasing/picking out wallets was far more overwhelming than I had ever expected. 
6. Eating meals in China was family dinner like. 
7. When grabbing something from one of the "family dishes" you are expected to use the bigger end of your chopsticks. 
8. Google, Facebook, YouTube, and other sites are not accessible in mainland China. 
9. Hong Kong and China are two very different places. 
10. I will be very interested in seeing Hong Kong as it transforms and goes farther under the Chinese rule (especially in 50 years).

Day 29: American Tourists Do Hong Kong.

Location: Hong Kong

This was one of those mornings when I just wanted to throw my phone (aka my alarm clock) at the wall. I was not ready to wake up! The morning came way too fast. Mister Lu was outside our apartment at 6:20 am. Dad asked him if he could stop by Starbucks before we headed to the airport. (Mister Lu does not speak any English, so just picture my Dad trying to explain...).

When we got to the airport we had to check in, clear customs, go through immigration and get to the gate. That was a lot of work. We made it to the gate with about five minutes to spare before boarding started. This boarding process was a little strange. They scanned/took our boarding passes and then we all had to get on a bus. The bus then took us (to what felt like the other end of the airport) to our airplane. We had to walk up the stairs of the plane and then find our seats. It wasn't even like we were on a small plane. Dad said that he has never had to board a bus before he boards the plane before.  On our flight to Hong Kong the flight attendant gave us the option of omelet or spaghetti. I just wanted something to drink and I didn't really care about the food...but who am I to pass up food? I chose omelet thinking who would want spaghetti at 9:30 am. It was definitely not my favorite. I'm not even going to inquire further, we will just leave it at "omelet". A little while later, she came around with the options of drinks.

As soon as we got off the plane I started to sweat. I was still dressed for the 30 degrees Fahrenheit waking up in Shanghai. Hong Kong was now in the mid-70s. Once we got to the airport we cleared immigration and then grabbed our bags at baggage claim. Tiger had made arrangements for a tour guide and driver to pick us up. Ah Yee (the driver) was holding a sign that read "Mr. Steve Nedved / Ms. Jillian Nedved" while standing next to Yuki (the tour guide). They took us to the hotel and helped us check in.

I think it is interesting that the country is very much in a transition phase. People from the mainland need passports to visit Hong Kong. And those people from the mainland are only allowed to visit for seven days at a time. I think this is a way for the Hong Kong culture to slowly transition to the new rule. It will take 50 years before Hong Kong will totally be under Chinese rule.

Food was a necessity at this point. It had been far too long since I had actually ate. The food on the plane was merely just a snack because I didn't like it. So Yuki suggested a place that served noodles for lunch. They served our food at the speed of light. It hit the spot. This restaurant served their Coca Cola in a bottle. Yuki said that this was pretty common in Hong Kong.

American Tourists

Yuki took us to the area known as the Walk of Stars. Basically it is the Hollywood of China. We were going to walk down the walk but since we only really know of Jackie Chan we decided it wasn't worth it. 

 Outside the Walk of Stars

Instead we took a few pictures of the landscape/cityscape and hopped a ferry across the island.

When we were on the ferry we realized that the ferry was parked practically right next to the MV Explorer. How neat! Now we know where we will need to go tomorrow so I can get on the ship.

A view of the MV Explorer from our ferry.

When we're in port, they turn on the lights at night. It's nothing much, just a string of bulbs from stem to stern. They're prettily ornamental, hundred watt bulbs strung in a single great line that must be seven hundred feet long. They're the first thing you see of the ship, once the sun is set. When the cab driver doesn't know the way, you spot those lights above the warehouses, and suddenly you can find the ship. They shine out into the night, into the strange, sultry darkness of foreign ports, and they call us home.

It was very foggy out. Our itinerary included a trip up to Victoria Peak. Since it was so foggy out, Yuki thought our time would be best spent only going half way up. On our way up, the van that Ah Yee was driving started to have problems. All of sudden the van stopped and we weren't moving. Ah Yee called another driver to come pick us up so that we could continue. We just stood on the side of the road looking like American Tourists!

Within about 15 minutes, the new driver was at the curb and we were on our way to the midpoint of Victoria Peak. We got out walked around a little and attempted to snap a few pictures but again it was just a little too cloudy. Yuki pointed out a building that was shaped like a candlestick. In the culture having a lit candlestick is bad luck. So the fungshew masters suggested that they put a pool of water on top of the building as if they were blowing out or distinguishing the flame so that there was no longer any bad luck.

The view of the city from the midpoint of Victoria Peak. 

See on of the taller buildings on the left? That's the candlestick shaped one.

Then Yuki took us to another part of the island. When we got out of the car she walked us through a little park or area designated to the Chinese culture. On the other side was the beach and ocean.

 The view from the beach.

There's a building off in the distance (just to the left of the tall brown building) that has a 

"hole" in the middle of it. The fungshew master said that it is bad luck to have a building 

that is that tall without a "hole" in it. The dragons cannot get to the seas fast enough. 

She let us wander around the beach for a while to take pictures and explore. There wasn't much to explore but we enjoyed the sunset.

Sunset on the beach.

Little did we know, while we were walking on the beach a 3rd driver had come (the 2nd one had prior plans). So Yuki and the new driver took us to dinner. Last night at dinner Tiger had suggested that we eat at the Spicy Crab Under the Bridge Restaurant. Tiger was right, Spicy Crab was delicious. At the end of the dinner, I was wishing that crab wasn't so much work because I enjoyed the crab so much. We had Yuki and the driver take us back to the hotel for the rest of the night. We had decided that if we wanted to do anything else we could probably figure it out on our own or just walk there.

Later in the evening I decided that I was craving ice cream. Dad and I went down to the concierge desk to ask for the closest ice cream shop. Luckily it was right around the corner. I had a waffle cone full of coffee ice cream mixed with chocolate syrup and Oreos. Mmmm it was so good! After our delicious ice cream we walked the streets of downtown Hong Kong for a little while.

Hong Kong at night

Day 28: Squatty Potty!

Bob informed us last night that the breakfast at the hotel was outstanding!. He said that when Kobe Bryant stayed at the hotel he spent so much time at breakfast that fans and paparazzi started to show up and want autographs and pictures. And…true to his word, the breakfast was spectacular! They had fruit, pastries, and every kind of juice, smoothies, omelet, and waffles. It all looked so good! Diet be gone!!

The toilets in these countries have been different. For the most part there have been normal (at least it is normal for me) sitting toilets.

At some places there are only, what we have started to call them, “squatty potties”.

 Terrifying, right?

It is devastating at times when there isn't a sitting toilet. As of now, I refuse to use them. If it comes down to it, a girl has to do what a girl has to do…but for now, attempting to use them is terrifying.

On our way back to Shanghai Bob took us to the water village in Wuzhen, China. Bob said that there were two projects in China: the Great Wall and the Canal. The water village is built on the river that is directly associated with the canal. This village was built hundreds of thousands of years ago. There were homes built directly above/on the river.

The water village.

In recent years the village has been turned into more of a museum. There are hotels in the village now. There are also markets where locals and foreigners can purchase produce and other trinkets. There are museum exhibits. One of the museum exhibits that we walked through was about shoes. These aren't the kind of shoes that you or I would wear. These are shoes that the Chinese would wrap.

This is what it looked like as we walked down the street.

At another one of the museum like exhibits they demonstrated how they dye fabric. They showed the fabric hanging out to dry after it had been dyed. They also had a man in the museum demonstrating how they get the flowery pattern onto the fabric.

Fabric hanging up drying before they sew into products to sell such as 

purses, headbands, dresses and flip flops.

Bob made us try stinky tofu. It was definitely stinky and not my favorite. Bob and some of Dad’s other friends in China refer to tofu in front of the Americans that come to visit them as "stinky tofu." Very few –if any- of the Americans like "stinky tofu."  Fortunately, Bob took us to have a real meal later and not just stinky tofu. It was so much better than the stinky tofu.

 Here is the view from a bridge looking at the village.

 "This is likely hotel rooms", said Bob.

Once we got done walking much of the village, we took a cute little boat back to the beginning of the village (aka where the car was parked). The boat ride was very cool. It was one of those times when I had to remind myself that I was riding on a boat in a river in the middle of China with my dad. It was surreal. AND it was freezing outside. It was on the verge of snowing and we are riding a boat on a river. Not the smartest idea but heck it was a lot faster than walking back to the car. Plus, I had not brought the warmest clothes along with me.

The boat we took across the river. "No, those doors don't shut", said Jillian.

Air blew in and out freely. F.r.e.e.z.i.n.g. Are you with me on that one?

The view from the little boat we road in.

Dad had thought of one more thing while we were in Hangzhou and Wuzhen that he wanted to get while we were in China. Bob took us to get a Starbucks (we were freezing) and get dad's souvenir. It was late afternoon by now and we were going to be having dinner close to 7pm. Dad asked Bob to take us back to the apartment so that we could relax and pack. We have an early flight tomorrow morning and who knows how long dinner will take.

We were having dinner with Dad’s friend, Tiger. When I heard that I was thinking Oh Lord that means there will be a lot of people at dinner and then Dad mentioned that it also means that this will be a looooong dinner. Tiger and his half brother (Da Ge Da), Bob and his wife (no American first name), Denny Garcia (the pro that runs Tiger’s Golf Academy) and Richard and his wife (Olivia) were all at dinner.

At this point in all of the ports, I start to get sick of the food. I'm not opposed to trying everything but after a while I start to want something familiar and get sick of foreign food. 

I had already eaten a lot of shrimp and sushi on this voyage. I was actually surprised how much shrimp I had ate because the texture of it typically bothers me. This meal was, again, family style. The first dish that came around was sushi. I said that I was going to pass and wait for the next dish to come around. I think Tiger may have been offended. He started ordering dishes for me personally. (Oh crap. I’m gonna be so full after this meal. Where’s the dog under the table when you need him?) He ordered beef for everyone to eat. Everyone just passed their beef to me. Throughout the dinner people just passed me some of their personal dishes. I was soooo incredibly full. I need to not eat so much.

I think it was a very cool experience to be able to eat with these people. Danny is an American who is working in China for Tiger Tech. Danny's wife had just died a few months back and he was still struggling with moving on. He made the comparison of life being like a movie. Now he is working to change the script of his life without his wife. I thought it was a pretty solid cultural experience to watch these Chinese people interact and socialize.

Day 27: Slurping Noodles!

Location: Hangzhou, China

We got up early this morning, well, early for me. I think it’s smart to make the best use of my time while I'm in port. I don’t know if I will ever be back. We went to Starbucks, grabbed our drink and went back to the apartment. Bob and Mister Lu were going to be picking us up at 10am. Of course, while I had use of Internet (and it was quiet) I used my time to FaceTime/Skype with Mady, my mom, and Mickey. 

Mister Lu drove us to Hangzhou. It is a town about 150 kilometers from Shanghai. Driving in China is somethin' else. As we are driving down the highway, just as I'm getting sleepy, Mister Lu swerves the car to another lane. There was a car in front of us going in reverse down the road. The driver had missed his intended exit and apparently was not willing to continue down the road until the next exit and then turn around. 

Once we arrived in Hangzhou food was a necessity. (Grampa is right; it does sound like I’m eating my way around the world!) The traffic to get to Hangzhou was worse than Bob had predicted so we ended up just grabbing a quick lunch at a restaurant. We had noodles with a little bit of meat in it. The meal was absolutely delicious. I'm not sure if that is just because I was starving or if it really was. I'm going to guess it really was. I have decided that one of my least favorite foods to eat with chopsticks is noodles. It is a joke. Luckily at this restaurant they gave us a spoon. So I would pick up some noodles, let them sit in the air to cool down, and then plop them onto the spoon we were given. From there I would just use the spoon to feed myself. (Dad and Bob did the same thing so I'm not such a newbie). If you attempt to just use the chopsticks to feed yourself the noodles you end up slapping yourself in the face with noodles. That can be very hot and messy. No thank you. It is also almost an expected thing to do in Chinese and Japanese cultures to slurp your food. For an American it is obnoxious to do that in public. (It would make you crazy, Mom!) I wanted to try to do it in these cultures when it was considered acceptable. I tried a time or two until I got sick of wiping my face from the mess I was making after every time I put food into my mouth!!

Bob took us to a pagoda tower. This particular pagoda had been rebuilt. The remains of the previous pagoda can be found on the inside of the current one. The original pagoda was built over 1000 years ago. 

The Leifeng Pagoda in Hangzhou

The view from the top was spectacular. I can't even imagine what it would have looked like had it been a clear day outside. The pagoda overlooked what is known as Westlake.

The view from the top of the Pagoda overlooking Westlake and the city.

It was too chilly to take a boat across or a bike around the lake so instead we just drove around. On the other side of the lake was our hotel for the night. Once checked in at the hotel and walked outside, there was a water show occurring on the lake. Apparently the water show occurs on the hour, everyday.

A little glimpse into the show.

Day 26: Super Bowl Sunday!!

Location: Shanghai

Just outside of the apartment was a Starbucks. It's was meant to be!! We went down and grabbed our coffee and made our way back to the apartment so that we could catch the Super Bowl. There was also a Costa Coffee which is very popular in China and rivals Starbucks. We had that occasionally, too.

As we were watching the game, I noticed that we began to see the same five commercials. Over and over. I guess that's what we get for watching the Super Bowl in China!  In case you were wondering we were watching television via Taiwanese satellite. We were able to see most of the game until the power went out in the Super Dome. We also multitasked and FaceTime/Skype my mom and Mady as well as Mickey. (Grandma, you have to be online for me to be able to Skype you!) About then we were supposed to meet Bob outside our apartment.

A little bit about Bob. My dad has known Bob Fu for a number of years from his visits to Shanghai. By day he’s an Operations Manager for Tiger Tech; but it appears that his real job is a merchandise broker. Bob is married to a wonderful lady (who is also a Shanghai local) and they have a daughter who will be making her first trip to the United States later this year for business. He’s also a true local -- born and raised in Shanghai. He spent some time in the United States, when he worked for Bic, the pen people. As a local, he knows his way around and how to negotiate when we are shopping. They refer to his form of Mandarin dialect as as Shanghai-ese (the –ese comes from Chinese). When in Shanghai, there are 4-5 pricing levels with the tourist level paying the highest price. Bob sticks with my dad and will make sure he gets the best price. Truthfully, we would never know but the prices seem fair when we convert them to US$.  I’m thankful for our own translator/negotiator/tour guide.  We refer to Bob as the professional shopper.

The plan today included a tour-guided trip by Bob to see the Shanghai World Financial Building. The building is shaped like a bottle opener at the top. It is the tallest building in Shanghai (soon to be the second tallest) and currently, the second tallest building in the world. Coincidentally, the third tallest building is in Hong Kong, our next port. 

As we entered the building they showed a comparison of Tokyo, New York City, and Shanghai in the growth of how fast they became skyscraper cities. In the last 20 years, Shanghai has exploded in growth. The next model was a diorama of the entire town of Shanghai. They showed the town throughout the day when it was lit up and when it was not.

We went on a mission to get to the top of the building and made it 492 meters high. I had to pop my ears it was so high. Sadly, it was very foggy that day. We could barely see, making it hardly worth it.

As we moved down floors of the building we could begin to see again. I thought it was really cool to see the city from a different perspective. We had a cup of coffee when we were still very high up looking out and found the ship. We could only see the ship when the clouds kept moving.

 Bob enjoying himself.

We walked outside the building snapped a few pictures and made our way to a part of town that was more traditional Shanghai with the Chinese-looking buildings you would expect.

The area is referred to as Old Shanghai and they were getting the area ready for the Chinese new year (lots of colorful plants and balloons).

Nearby there was an estate that belongs to an Emperor and well over 800 years old. Inside, we found an amazing Garden with waterfalls, flowers, funky Chinese plants, bonsai trees, stone buildings, ponds with the big goldfish, etc.  

It was so pretty to walk through.

The buildings in the garden included carvings in the stone at the top of the building -- these carvings were snakes, dragons and other traditional Chinese images. Bob had interesting stories and folk-lore behind the carvings.

After we made our way out of the garden we grabbed lunch. It was again a family-style meal including dumplings. The chefs were preparing the dumplings at another end of the restaurant. It was so neat watching them make it. It was kind of like watching Krispy Kreme make your donuts. I spotted a Hagen Das outside of the restaurant. Somehow Bob figured out that I'm a lover of ice cream. So, of course, we went to Hagen Das! 

Bob took us shopping and I got some wallets, a backpack, and a new NorthFace jacket (my NorthFace jacket started to rip). We didn't have to negotiate but it was still very stressful. Bargaining on top of trying to decide what you want and dealing with the person selling us the products was a challenge.  All the stores in the shopping complex are very small but they all have hidden back rooms (special shopping for special customers according to Bob; AKA black market).

Bob then took us to a different part of Shanghai; the old town for the French and Germans. And very traditional. The buildings were very small/short but so cute!

We stopped at a German Restaurant and enjoyed a beverage. Dad and Bob had German beer while I enjoyed a latte.

Dad requested the restaurant for tonight where their specialty was spicy ribs. Yum! Everything was very spicy but you should know that I'm a spicy wimp. Bob even thinks that the food there is spicy. The restaurant is traditional Shanghai. Mister Lu is from Southeast China and he didn't find the food as spicy as we all thought.

After Dinner, Dad and I went to get a massage.  Massages are very popular in China.  Some of folks that my dad works with told him that it is not uncommon to have 3 or 4 massages a week.  They jokingly refer to this as exercise (the lazy man’s workout).  The first hour started out as a foot massage (this consisted of soaking our feet in a wooden bucket filled with hot water and herbs while the masseuse worked on our shoulders and eventually finished up with our pruned feet). The second hour consisted of a body massage.  The whole experience was unique as neither party could communicate other than a few hand gestures.  We finished up relaxed and walked back to the apartment which was only a few blocks away.