|
MONDAY,
OCTOBER 23RD:
Departed the Dragon Hill Lodge
exactly on time. There was a really severe thunderstorm that passed through the
area at around 5:30 am. The wind was ferocious! I was hoping it would blow
over before we left.
No problem checking in at the airport. I had to go to the Korean Air check-in
counter with Charlie and Hazel, and Bebe and Jimmy took everyone else to the NW
counter. John Downie said that NW was all set up and waiting for them –
already had their boarding passes printed. I am SURE Bebe and Jimmy were happy.
In Korea, after you give them your checked bags, you have to stay in the area
for 3 minutes to make sure there is nothing in the bag that is questionable. I
told them I KNEW they would call my name because I have a can of hairspray in my
suitcase. Always happens. They did. I went into the back and opened the
suitcase and showed them the hairspray and everything was fine. Can’t
understand why they don’t just open the suitcase and check like they do in the
U.S.
Nice plane to Korea and very impressive that the lead fight attendant comes by,
introduces himself, and says to let him know if we need anything. All the fight
attendants were very nice and helpful – total opposite of 90% of the flights I
take I the U.S.
When we took off, the plane started slamming from side to side. I was scared to
death and was hanging on to the armrests as I was sitting by myself and didn’t
have anyone I could grab on to. Hazel had her head buried on Charlie’s arm and
was praying. Dean was asleep!
J
It was really the bumpiest take-off I have ever experienced and very strange
because the movement was side-to-side instead of dropping out of the sky. Hope
I NEVER have another flight like that.
Have learned that the food leaving Korea is NEVER very good and it was true
again today. The roll was editable as was a little of the rice.
Two hours later, we landed in Beijing. Charlie’s son and Dean’s girlfriend and
her mother were supposed to meet us at the hotel. When we got to baggage claim,
Charlie, Jr. was sitting there by himself. Evidently there was a problem with
Dean’s girlfriend and her mother’s tickets that morning and they missed their
flight. The Peninsula Hotel staff met us when we exited Customs and had a van
waiting to take us to the hotel. The traffic is horrendous and they drive even
crazier than the people in Korea. The hotel is beautiful and we had no problem
getting checked in.
We had to change our time to depart for shopping as we were waiting for Dean’s
girlfriend and mom to arrive. I spent quite a while with the Concierge changing
sightseeing and dinner times but got everything straightened out (that message
is for you, Bebe! J
). I walked up the street to a little convenience store to purchase some
water. The streets are six lanes wide, but there are no “turning lanes”. The
cars just MAKE a turning lane and pull right over into incoming traffic. I
needed to cross the street and there wasn’t a crosswalk in sight. I jumped
right in the middle of a group of Chinese who were trying to cross and let them
“shield” me from the oncoming traffic. The real danger is the bicycle riders!
They don’t slow down and will run right over you before you know what hit you.
The hotel provided a “guide” named Ronald who speaks excellent English and is
very “cool”. We went to the Pearl Market and were told to go to the 4th
floor and ask for Sandra. There were photos of movie stars and celebs all over
the wall – including a recent one of Condi Rice and one of Colin Powell! Hazel
bought a beautiful string of pearls and purchased several more strands as
gifts. I didn’t buy anything as I’m waiting for my daughter to get here to shop
with me. Our guide then took us to an “office building” on a back street” and
when we entered the room, it was filled with “knock-off bags”. There were some
really great bags but again, I didn’t make a purchase. Hazel bought a couple
of bags but we’re going to wait until we get to Guangzhou to buy the majority of
the things we want.
Came back to the hotel and had dinner at the hotel restaurant. It was
traditional Chinese food and some of it we liked and some we did not. We tried
some pretty strange things, though.
Lindsey landed early and was SOOO tired when she arrived at the hotel. The
hotel had sent up hot chocolate and a plate of little cookies for her. She
crashed almost immediately!
So, again, I’m answering email and trying to get caught up a little before
departing for the Great Wall tomorrow morning!
Jude
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24TH:
Lindsey and
I had breakfast in the hotel. It was a huge buffet which is a “waste” on me
because I don’t eat very much, especially breakfast. There were some strange
things to choose from, but basically, it was okay. We met everyone in the
lobby to travel to the Great Wall. It is overcast and VERY cold today. I
brought my flight jacket with me on the trip but shipped it back home when I
was in Korea because I had not needed it. Sure could have used it today. I
“layered” and stayed pretty warm.
The Great Wall was breath-taking! I never thought this was something I would
ever see in my lifetime and Charlie Daniels kept saying the same thing. We
took the cable car up to the top instead of walking because of Charlie’s
knees. You KNOW I hate riding in those things. I would much rather have
hiked up. It was beautiful at the top. We took tons of photos and Charlie,
Hazel, and Charlie, Jr. took photos to use as their Christmas card this year.
I actually have a photo of me and Becky Hobbs all decked out in Chinese
military garb at the Great Wall. We took it years ago when we were in Hong
Kong. Of course, we were just standing behind a “cut-out”, but it sure looked
real. J
Lindsey and I left the
group for a few minutes and hiked up part of the Great Wall to a higher
point. It was a tremendous SLOPE and then a long set of stairs. The stairs
were all a different height and they were not smooth on the top. It was
extremely difficult to walk up them. But, we did it and it was work the
effort.
We left the Great Wall and stopped at a nearby restaurant for a HUGE lunch.
They just kept bringing food and it was all good. Did a little shopping for a
t-shirt that said, “I climbed the Great Wall”. Then we went to the Forbidden
Palace. There is something like 9,000 rooms in there and you would need a
week to see it all. We did the quick one hour tour but it was fascinating and
well-worth the short visit. Our guide has been excellent and very
knowledgeable about everything. I tipped him accordingly. We drove by
Tiananment Square but didn’t have time to stop because we have a meeting with
the Ambassador to China at the Embassy tonight. Tomorrow Lindsey and I will
go back to Tiananmen Square and see Chairman Mao’s Mausoleum. He is actually
in there and we will be able to “view” him. Charlie and his group depart to
Hong Kong tomorrow morning.
We all put on our “best clothes” and drove to the Embassy. Ambassador Randt
was so nice and very down to earth. He said he was the Ambassador to China
because he was the only fraternity brother that President Bush had who spoke
Chinese! Took lots of photos with him. He tried to gather the 12 Marines
that are stationed there so they could meet Charlie but they were gone to
dinner. Charlie did meet one of them and took a photo with him.
Had dinner at a really nice restaurant near the hotel that Hazel thought was
going to be Italian food. NOT! Really don’t know what it was, but it was
“okay”. Very expensive. Back to the hotel early to work on email. Tomorrow
a “new” friend “Pei-Pei” will be taking us sightseeing and shopping.
Jude
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25TH:
Got up and went
to the health club in the hotel. WAY too dangerous to try and jog around this
hotel. I’d be killed by a bike, taxi or bus! Health club was REALLY nice.
They gave me a bottle of water and towel when I walked in. I had placed them
on the floor between the 2 machines I was using and they came over and put
everything on a bamboo tray. There were fresh bottles of water on all the
cardio machines and earphones with individual tv screens. They brought me
over a cold, wet, cloth while I was riding the bike. Pretty impressive.
French President Jacques Chirac is arriving at our hotel today. I was
surprised that there wasn’t a LOT more security. Other than seeing everyone
in suits and speaking French, it appears to be business as usual.
Lindsey and I met my new friend – Pei Pei – and one of her friends in the
lobby to go sightseeing and shopping. We went to Tiananmen Square but we were
too late to see Mao’s Mausoleum. It’s only open on certain days and only for
a couple of hours each day. Oh well…next time. We walked around and took lots
of photos. Then we purchased tickets to go up to the top of one of the
buildings. We had to check our bags because in the past, someone brought in a
bomb so now they are very careful. After that, we went to a store that is
selling 2008 Olympics souvenirs. It’s going to be WILD when that comes to
Beijing. The traffic is already horrible and we asked the Ambassador last
night how the city would be able to handle all the additional visitors. He
said that in 2001, there was an OPEC conference in Shanghia and President Bush
and lots of other world leaders attended. He said that the city gave
everyone within a certain radius between the airport and the site of the
conference a 10 day vacation. They were told to leave the city. If they
didn’t leave, then they had “curfews” each day. He said the streets were
deserted except for the official motorcades!
Pei Pei wanted us to try Peking Duck. I had heard that it was not very good
and very greasy. Very true. At least it was “roasted”. The skin is the
delicacy and I didn’t like it at all. They brought an entire duck – just for
4 people. They brought these very thin “pancakes” and you put a piece of duck
dipped in a very thick soy mixture and a few thin strips that Pei Pei said
were onions on the pancake to eat it. It was okay. We also had “flower tea”
made out of chrysanthemums! It wasn’t bad. Had some Chinese vegetables and
tofu as well. I had to go to the bathroom and the men’s and women’s were
right across from each other. The door to the men’s stays open and you can
see all the men at the urinal. All the stalls in the women’s restroom were
the “squatters”…the kind I have to remove all my clothes to use!
After lunch we went to the silk market to shop. I was trying to find some
bags for friends. It was “bargaining” city. But, the people are very pushy.
They didn’t have exactly what I was looking for but they were determined to
sell me a bag. She kept grabbing my arm and wouldn’t let go and grabbed
Lindsey’s bag and hung on. We didn’t buy a bag from her! We went up to the
jewelry section and Lindsey got a beautiful strand of black and white beads
that are made out of shell. She is giving these as a Christmas gift. The
bargaining was exhausting though and we decided not to go anywhere for
dinner. We got in line for a taxi and one of the taxi drivers in line behind
the taxi we were going to take started yelling at us because we weren’t moving
fast enough. Pei Pei was trying to explain where we wanted to go. The angry
taxi driver told Pei Pei he knew we were from Mexico! Very strange.
Pei Pei found us a taxi but the driver didn’t know where the Peninsula Hotel
was located! She had to ride with us to the hotel!!!!
We had dinner at the restaurant in the hotel and it was a huge buffet…with
hardly anything we wanted to eat. I’m very tired of “Chinese” food! We
stood in line to get a crepe but no one was manning the “grill”. Finally
found someone and a man came around but looked angry that he had to work. He
poured the batter on the grill and spread it around, then walked away.
Another guy came up and tried to turn the crepe, but it broke. The first guy
came up and started yelling at him and I thought they were going to get into a
fist fight right there! Another man came in to “referee”. We finally got
our crepes and thankfully, they were great…the best thing we had to eat all
night. J
Off to Hong Kong early
tomorrow!
Jude
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26TH:
For
those of you who have emailed and asked, “yes, they tried to serve us ALL
the duck”! They had duck tongue, duck liver, duck kidney – you name it.
They even tried to serve us the BONES. They bought out this bowl of
“cloudy” liquid and called it Duck soup. Our Chinese friends ate it, but we
didn’t.
Pei Pei (our
little Chinese friend) said that she went to Washington, DC on business.
She was in her hotel room and she called the front desk and asked them to
please send someone to remove the “rubbish”. Only, she said “rabbit”! She
said that the police (translated as hotel security, I’m sure) knocked on her
door in a panic wanting to know where the rabbit was!
J
When we met with the
Ambassador, he said that every 3 months, China (the entire country)
replicates the square footage of Manhattan. There is construction
everywhere. Pei Pei said that a husband and wife are only allowed to have
ONE child. If the first child is a girl, they can pay extra money to try
and have a boy. Or, if a husband and wife get a divorce (and that is quite
common here), and they re-marry, they are allowed to have one child.
So, there’s your lesson for today!
J
We departed to the
airport at 8 am. It’s COLD in Beijing and will be HOT in Hong Kong. Thank
goodness we had someone from the Peninsula Hotel meeting us at the airport
and assisting us through the check-in process. First you had to fill out a
Customs Form (which the hotel should have given us before we departed and
they did not). There was also a checked luggage scan, which he completely
by-passed. Then you went through one secure area into the check-in area.
After checking in, it was pretty standard going through immigration. We
went to the lounge and left our carry on bags and then found a Starbucks and
a restaurant that served “Western” food. Sort of. It was cafeteria style
and we ordered French Toast which came with cole slaw and French fries….go
figure. We paid and they gave us a big number to put on our table. We put
the number on the table and then went to order coffee. Lindsey saw a
waitress pick up our number and take it away. She chased her down but could
not make her understand that we had not eaten yet. She had about 10 numbers
on her tray and we didn’t know which one was our. We sat for quite a while
and finally saw someone coming with French Toast but she didn’t want to give
it to us because we didn’t have a number. Of course, she spoke no English.
I was ready to tackle her if she hadn’t given us the food.
There was no syrup with the French Toast. I checked around the cash
register and finally asked a waitress who didn’t have a CLUE what I was
talking about, I guess it was a good thing we didn’t have syrup to put on
it because the center was filled with cheese.
We boarded the plane on time and it is an OLD, OLD plane and I’m not
“comfortable” flying Air China anyway. The flight attendants were nice and
the food was “edible”. We sat at the gate for 45 minutes waiting on 2
passengers. I’ve NEVER had an airplane wait for me like that. It meant
that we landed late in Hong Kong and had to RUSH to check into the hotel and
get dressed for our Birthday Dinner with Charlie Daniels. My friend Anders
met us at the hotel and we drove over with him and a couple of his
friends/co-workers that I also know. The hotel is beautiful. I stayed here
years ago when Becky Hobbs performed at an event in their parking lot (which
overlooks the Harbor).
I had rented a private room in the famous floating restaurant JUMBO in the
Hong Kong Harbor. We had a total of 13 people for dinner and it was one of
those deals where there is a lazy susan in the middle of the table and they
just keep bringing out food. Charlie will eat ANYTHING, but Hazel, Lindsey
and I were struggling. There was duck again but this was different – not as
greasy! There was a fabulous steamed fish but it came with the entire head
and body. Charlie ate the meat from the head.
J
I had hired two female Chinese Musicians to “entertain” and Charlie LOVED
this. One played the Erhu which is an instrument that is played with a bow
and has only 2 strings. I am familiar with it because Dr. Ming Wang in
Nashville has played his for me. The other played an instrument that has
strings like a harp but lays flat on a stand. She had “picks” taped to her
fingers and plucked the instrument like a pedal steel guitar. The music was
beautiful. We had arranged for them to learn “The Devil Went Down to
Georgia” and about half way through the meal, they broke into it. The look
on Charlie’s face was PRICELESS. Then one of Anders’ friends who was
dressed like a “lawyer”, served Charlie with papers for copyright
infringement and said they were suing him for something like three billion
dollars because he had stole their song. Charlie said he is going to frame
the letter. He also said that this was a birthday that he will NEVER
forget. I’m so glad I was able to do this for him. He does so much for me
with the troops and I can never thank him enough for that.
Tomorrow Lindsey and I are going shopping, and then more shopping, and then
more shopping. We’ve been to Hong Kong enough that we don’t need to
sightsee.
J
Jude
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27TH:
Up early for a jog along
the harbor – one of my favorite places to run. It’s already hot and humid
and lots of people on the street. Lindsey and I starting our shopping and
went back to look for some of our favorite places. It’s been almost two
years since I was in Hong Kong and a lot of the shops are no longer here.
We weren’t having much luck with the shopping so we took the ferry over to
Hong Kong Island, bought some candy for gifts and then took the ferry
back. Lindsey had a cold when she arrived and my throat started getting
sore last night. Didn’t feel very good by mid-afternoon. We waited until
sunset and then took the subway up to the night market. This used to be
the best place for bargains but it has changed a lot. Lindsey was looking
for sunglasses and I was looking for a watch. She didn’t find anything
and I found a couple of guys selling “copy” watches. You have to show
them what you want in a book and then they go somewhere to get it. What
they brought back was not what I asked for and before they could go get
another one, they grabbed everything and took off running. Evidently the
police were coming.
Seemed strange that we shopped all day in Hong Kong and didn’t purchase
anything! Tomorrow we go to Guangzhou to see the booth that I’ll have for
the next several years to promote country music and tourism in the State
of Tennessee. J
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28TH:
(Charlie Daniels’ real
birthday!). Up early to take the train from Hong Kong to Guangzhou.
Quite an experience. We were on the EXPRESS train and it was packed very
full. It made one stop but passengers were only allowed to get off the
train, no one could get on. Also, the toilets were locked until we
crossed the border into China. I found out why….the toilets are the
“squatters” but all the waste goes directly out onto the tracks! Hong
Kong (thank goodness) doesn’t allow that. We were picked up at the train
station by some of the representatives that are giving us the booth. We
drove to the White Swan Hotel where we were meeting Darcy from the
American Consulate. I had never met her – just emailed back and forth.
She was WONDERFUL. Very passionate about her job and very helpful to
us. She told us about a program that they have recently re-instated where
they can pay the expenses to bring entertainers in to perform at their
“cultural” events. Bela Fleck and a female entertainer who is in a
“string band” that I found out about right before I left for Asia are
coming in this week. Darcy was manning the “duty” desk this week and got
several phone calls while we were having lunch. Darcy told us about
Guangzhou being one of the most popular places to adopt a baby. There is
a floor on the hotel where we were having lunch known as the “baby” floor
because all the adoptive parents stay on that floor when they come to pick
up their new babies.
After lunch, we drove over to the new “Exhibition Hall” where our booth
will be located. There is a LOT of construction going on in order to get
it ready for the Fair that will take place in November. It’s a really
nice building and we’re going to have “prime” space. We met with the
Chairman of the company who is donating the space to us and took lots of
photos. Anders had the man who he was buying the Erhu for Charlie Daniels
come by the exhibit hall and drop it off with us. It is a beautiful
instrument and he even provided a flight case for it. Lindsey and I were
getting a little “anxious” because this was our last day to shop and it
was getting to be very late.
We finally took the train (even more crowded and not as nice as the first
one) back to Shenzhen. We were standing in line to go through to the
boarding platform when everyone started walking away. They had changed
the departure “gate”. Then when we got on, there were men sitting in some
of our seats. Their response was, “It’s no problem, just sit somewhere
else”! Found out they were from Russia! It was a miserable one hour
trip and we had departed 15 minutes late. The train was FLYING down the
tracks, obviously to make up for the late departure. Shenzhen is the city
right across the border from Hong Kong where everyone goes to shop. There
is a huge shopping center there where I shopped a couple of years ago.
The quality of the items is usually much better than Hong Kong or Seoul.
First we stopped I the Shangri-La Hotel for a coffee and their bathroom
(trains are just much too nasty’!). Then Rhoda (works with Anders and
speaks fluent Mandarin and I don’t know how many other languages) took us
into the shopping mall. She shops there a lot and knows where to go to
get the good “knock offs”. The first place we went, they took us to a
door that was completely covered and said “Tattoos” on it. They knocked
and eventually someone let us in. The room was filled with “copy” bags.
They had several like the ones we wanted but there was a scratch or a flaw
on everyone of them. We left and went to another store. This time we had
to go up a back stairway to a “warehouse” above the mall. This place had
great bags and we found several of what we needed. I struck out on a few
of them that people asked me to pick up for gifts and just ran out of time
to look anywhere else. I stopped and got one of the watches I was looking
for and then we went into a restaurant for a quick snack before we had to
leave. While we were eating all the electricity went out in the Mall.
There were candles and I had my little flashlight/pens that I had brought
as gifts. We went to the restroom before we got on the train because we
knew there wouldn’t be one on the one hour trip to Hong Kong. It was the
nastiest restroom I’ve seen in a long time. Worse than some of the gas
stations in the little towns in Alabama!
J
Had to fill out a
lot of paperwork and go through security, immigration, and customs before
getting to the train. We were in First Class going back and it was much
nicer. Anders drove us to our hotel after first stopping to drop off the
Erhu for Charlie Daniels at his hotel. Sure hope he likes it! Lindsey
and I tried to pack for the flight tomorrow. My cold is much worse and I
hate the thought of having to fly. Got in bed at 1 am and had to get up
at 4 am for 6:00 departure to the airport. Pretty miserable. Hong Kong
doesn’t go on Daylight Savings Time so I missed getting my “extra hour”
this year.
Jude
Sunday, October 29th:
Left for
the airport exactly on time and got checked in with no problems. We
stopped and got a latte on our way to the gate only to be turned back at
the gate because we were not allowed to take anything to drink into the
area! It was really strange. We had already gone through customs,
immigration, and security and then had to have all our bags “hand
searched” individually. I was glad I had removed all my liquids and
gels. Kept thinking I might have forgotten something. Flight left Hong
Kong on time for the 4 hour flight to Tokyo.
Landing in Tokyo was ROUGH. Very strong winds when we landed and I think
it’s going to be the same in Detroit. I bought a bottle of water in the
gate area in Tokyo and when I started to get on the plane, security made
me throw it away! It was pretty hard to argue with someone who didn’t
speak English. I had checked the NWA website that morning before we left,
and it said you could take water on flights to and from the U.S. as long
as it was purchased in the gate area! I took drugs for my cold and
Lindsey and I slept most of the way home. Landing in Detroit was
definitely rough, too, because of wind.
We were able to get on an earlier flight to Nashville which got us in at
2:30 pm instead of 4:30 pm. Nice to have those extra hours to unpack!
GLAD TO BE HOME FOR A FEW WEEKS!! Jude
|
