Beijing

This was my welcome when I made it to the Arrivals Hall of the "Beijing Capital International Airport." 

I am sure you have seen the mascots for the Olympics. There are five children-like mascots that represent the five rings of the Olympic games. They are called the Fuwa. 

They each have a rhyming two-syllable name: Beibei the fish, JingJing the panda, Huanhuan the Olympic Flame, YingYing the Tibetan antelope, and NiNi the swallow (who I am pictured with). 

And when you string together the first words of their names you get: BeiJing Huan Ying Ni! 

"Welcome to Beijing!"

First Day in Beijing

I'm sitting in my Holiday Inn Lido room watching Memoirs of a Geisha. I left Hong Kong this morning and arrive in Beijing this afternoon. Customs was easy and the airport was relatively calm. I expected there to be long lines already. I was picked up by Jian Shi Fu, one of the drivers for the Robarts. Beijing is cleaner than I remember it. And the sun was even peeking through the clouds! So all in all, a good start. 

I stayed inside for most of the afternoon because of the Total Eclipse (which was supposed to be powerful in this part of the world). Ayurvedic/Hindu practitioners believe that the sun's rays and energy surrounding the earth is heavy and it is unsafe to be outside. So I just digested the Beijing city map more in the confines of my very humid room. 

I went to dinner around 6 and coincidentally there was an Indian restaurant within walking distance of the hotel. The restaurant manager picked up that I was Indian and we made the Indian "connection." He told me about the community and how they get together. There are about 600 of us in Beijing. Much smaller than I anticipated. I also got the 411 on how to get Indian groceries. A pretty productive night so far... 

Then was picked up by Cathy, a real estate consultant I found. She and her colleagues are two other sweet girls that live together. I saw one apartment right across the railway tracks from where I will work. Infact the skyline of SOHO is visible from the living room on the 17th floor! 

I also picked up two magazines for foreigners in Beijing. And ran into two journalists from France for the Olympics. There are already so many people here.  And I had my first experience with watching obnoxious tourists. I stepped into the hotel bar for a second before I realized I wouldn't be staying there very long due to the cigarette smoke and overheard some American tourists ordering vodka. And they were being so rude because the pub (yes, a pub by definition mostly carries beers and does not specialize in liquors) didn't care anything but Smirnoff for vodka. I quote: 

"What no, Absolute, no Grey Goose, no Ketel One???"

 And just basically making a scene because her requirements weren't met in a foreign land. 

And the poor bartenders were being kind and holding themselves together but I am sure that by the time September is over (which is how long Beijing expects the flux of tourists to be around for) they are going to be very jaded. 

I on the other hand can't wait for another fun day in the city. 

Happy Birthday Chase!

Happy Birthday Chase!

Yep, the big guy's is the big 2-8! We are going to spend the day in Kowloon- Nathan Rd., shopping, etc. Although, we have vowed not to buy anything because our bags are already super heavy. Kowloon in Cantonese means the land of the Nine Dragons. And Bruce Lee's chinese name meant "Little Dragon." And the story goes that Bruce Lee lived on Kowloon and feng shui experts warned that the "little" dragon should not be in the land of the "nine dragons" and so he didn't listen to them and what do you know... he died there. Interesting, huh.

And then we are going to have lunch at the Woodlands- a famous Indian restaurant that has a location in Hong Kong. And have high tea at the Peninsula Hotel. I am extremely fond of tea and high tea will be so much fun at this super fancy and famous hotel. Finally, we are going to check out some true Cantonese food for dinner. I think it's funny that I schedule my day around where I eat. Er, maybe weird.

Anyways, we will post pics tonight.

It's still insanely hot and this morning when I woke up (3:30am!) the wind was howling. So I don't know what the weather will be like. Maybe some rain will cool things off.

Hong Kong Island

Chase and I went around Hong Kong Island today. We were there at around 8:30 and I was surprised to find HK so empty. Come to find out just about everyone (mostly Expats, I mean) leave during July and August. So we enjoyed the extra elbow room and walked everywhere. I mean Central to Sheung Wan to Kennedy Town to the Mid-Levels... everywhere. We went into all of the major buildings of architectural interest. My favorite was the Mandarin Oriental, and the Bank of China building which is according to all those interested in feng shui, very not feng shui. We also toured around the great parks of Hong Kong. In Hong Kong park we visited a great aviary and saw many birds found mostly in Southeast Asia. We went to the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical garden and saw many of the great banyan trees that surround the city. There are many primates there and we saw baby marmosets (pictured below). In one cage, we watched two tortoises spar against each other. Then the smaller of the two went and got on top of what we assume is a female. And just as he was mounting her, he fell over! To our amazement the female and another larger tortoise came over and did their best by putting their shells up against him to bring him back upright. We watched this for nearly 20 minutes until they finally gave up and both walked away. I mean what if this was in the wild!? What would this poor tortoise have done? He was wriggling and kicking and using all his might and nothing was happening. Finally a keeper came in to do her duties and just fixed him upright. That was the end of that. We went to the reptile house which Chase is always fond of and saw a Yangtze River alligator and a Burmese python. Chase was such a good tour guide. All those summers of Trek America were put into action. He was organized, had a plan, and kept things interested. I had a great time. We are so tired though. I wore Birkenstocks for this 10km walk and now everything hurts in my feet. Some good rest tonight should do the trick as I have stretched out my feet as much as I can. Here are some pictures from today.

A Pygmy Marmoset with a baby on it's back.














Chase in front of the famous lions that are in front guarding the HSBC Bank building (formerly Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank). In bronze by British sculptor WW Wagstaff. During WWII the lions were used as target practice by the Japanese.















Me and some beautiful orchids in the Hong Kong Park conservatory.














Chase is starting to realize that he's going to have to watch his head where ever he walks in China....

Day in NYC

Some pics from my solo day in NYC.
World Trace Center site.













Trinity Place church and gothic style architecture of NYC.














The view of Manhattan from Kirk and Allyson's apartment terrace.













These are great symbols of America, aren't they?

Last Day in America

Chase and I left Austin yesterday. It was really really more than anything I imagined... difficult to leave Lola. I couldn't let her go at the airport. I just really felt like I was letting her down. What kind of Mother leaves her baby? I will miss her so very deeply. She's been there for me through all my moves the last five years. She's made me a better person. I love her and will not love another dog in the same way. But I have reconciled that at least she will make others happy (i.e. my family) and that I should be thankful that I can do that for them. And at least I have placed her in a happy home with greenbelt access and lots of people to love her. I am sure my parents and Archie will take care of her. 

So today I went into the City while Chase hung out with Kirk (his brother). I went to NYC to have a yoga day. I went to the Dharma Mittra Yoga Center for a Master class. Yes, it was hard. It kicked my butt. I think the third pose might have been Hanumanasana. There was no holding back and people were just going into poses that I work into after about an hour. Well, I managed and I listened to myself and kept an open and receptive mind. Funny, that's their motto. Be receptive. 

Then I made my way back downtown, well SOHO actually where I took another class (after a quick Whole Foods lunch), this time at Virayoga, a yoga studio Christina Sell (my yoga teacher) recommended. Took a great class with Sharon and really enjoyed hearing the Anusara lingo. It's funny how much I've gotten attached to doing things "our way." Anusara is definitely more precise about alignment and technique and I really respond to that structure. For example and the Dharma studio there was three minutes of doing what ever poses we felt like and I couldn't transition from being led for 1 hour and 45 minutes and then being told to do what ever I wanted. What!? That's not why I come to a yoga studio. Anyways, it was a small group and the vibe was positive and upbeat. We worked on arm balances and inversions mostly.

After that, I made it back to Jersey City and we just got back from dinner. I have pics from today which I will post as soon as we get to Hong Kong. We'll be in HK tomorrow! Fantastic. The journey has officially begun. Chase and I feel so excited to start this part of our lives together. Good bye North America! 

Gone to California

Well, it's been a month since I last blogged. And that's because the month of June was the winding down time at Casa. I was major worried about the parent teacher conferences as they always take alot emotionally to talk to each parent. Casa parents really care about every aspect of their child's life and as glad as I am to share everything I know about their child, it is draining. Not to mention the sitting in chairs part. I already have tight hips and IT bands and sitting in a chair for hours further tightens them. And the circulation in my legs gets crazy. Secret: When I'm in between conferences I do headstands, handstands, and hip openers to keep circulation going. After the conferences came the End of the Year picnic where I cried openly and unrestrainedly. I had bottled everything up for weeks and I remember crying on Thursday night to Chase after my last set of conferences, all day Friday and Friday night. Phew. I will miss Casa more than any normal person will miss their job when then change careers or jobs. Because being at Casa never felt like a "job." It was a place I enjoyed coming to every day, where I got to be with the children I loved, and do things that helped them join the world as a compassionate and caring individual. Nothing's better than that.

Now, I am enjoying my first day off. I am in California visiting my sister, family relatives, and friends. First day off because we had to take down the classrooms the last few days. I took a total of 5 naps. YES. 3 on the plane. And I know they might not count exactly, they were good. I had both seats on the plane to myself. So I stretched out. Something told me to bring a pillow, which I rarely do, and I am glad I did. And I took two naps in the early morning after I arrived at my cousins house. I've been reading a lot today and watched tv for the first time in months. TV gets boring fast. Now I'm taking Satvik and Ceasar's dog, Sona on a run and then we are going to wash her. They leave for India tomorrow and then I'll have time to hang out with Sruthi, my sister. I'll spend a few days with her. On Saturday we are going for manis and pedis in Santa Monica and then she's going to drop me off with some friends where I'll spend the rest of the weekend. Chase will join me and our friends on Saturday. I am really missing him. It's been three days since I saw him. And I can't believe we maintained a long distance relationship so many years ago because three days is about my limit now.

More tomorrow when we figure out what we are going to do for Independence Day. Which by the way, did you know that the real Independence Day was actually July 2nd and that the 4th is just when they signed the Declaration?