The Forbidden City At Night
Top Beijing posts on A Pair of Panties & Boxers
Posts Tagged ‘The Great Wall of China’
Photo Friday: The Forbidden City At Night
Friday, September 17th, 2010My Top 10 Posts of 2009
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
My New Year’s Resolution: To be happy & healthy in mind, body & spirit. And travel a crap load more.
I started A Pair of Panties & Boxers as a reminder to myself to never conform to society’s norm in the daily grind of a 9-5. I didn’t want my job to be the reason I stopped seeing beyond four walls and I didn’t want the burden of saving for grad school keep me from seeing the world. I figured the best way to travel as much as I can is to start a travel blog because in order to write about my travels, I’d actually have to go and travel. When I start running out of things to write, that means I need to get on a plane, train, bus, boat or any type of transportation fast – not that I don’t get that urge to just jet every single day. But sometimes, we do what we have to do and not what we want to do.
It hasn’t been a year since I started blogging but I thought I’d still wrap up 2009 featuring my top 10 most popular blog posts of the year. I hope all my readers enjoyed growing this blog with me these past 6 months. Thanks for sticking around.
So without further adieu, here are the top 10 posts for 2009.
1. Photo Friday: Kaifeng, China
Kaifeng, China
The beauty of traveling through China is that sometimes, I feel like I’m in two places at once – the past and the present.
See #8 for related post.
2. Facing Mud Made “Squatties” In Yunnan
The one thing I absolutely loathe about China is the lack of Western toilets. Those hole-in-the-ground-you-have-to-pee-by-squatting apparatuses make me cringe every time. I’m a girl — how am I supposed to pee that way?!
So when my roommates and I decided to trek westward for fall break, towards rural Yunnan and Sichuan, I had to put on a brave face and come to terms with the fact that I’d be using nothing but “squatties.”
Five hours into the bumpy bus ride and two bottles of water later, I was bursting with thoughts of shiny automatic-flush toilets and marble sinks.
Alas, what greeted me at the makeshift rest stop was an outhouse made out of mud and three little children asking for a 50 cents fee for using their “bathroom.”
3. Hangzhou, China: Stunning Sunset On The West Lake
The travel bug bit somewhere between Wuzhen and Suzhou. We returned from Suzhou Saturday night. But by Sunday morning, JC and I already had our bags packed and a one-way ticket in our hand.
We took the next departing train from Shanghai to Hangzhou. It was an hour and a half of smooth sailing.
4. The Blue Mosque: Etiquette & Communication
The Blue Mosque sits directly across from the Hagia Sophia on the Hippodrome, also known as the Sultanahmet Square. It’s hard to say which is more impressive. They both rival in beauty. With six towering minarets, The Blue Mosque dominates the Istanbul skyline.
5. I paid ¥20 for a cab ride down to People’s Park (人民公园), ¥10 to see the Gaudi exhibit at the MOCA, ¥40 for lunch at Pizza Hut, ¥50 for a shuttle ride to the Oriental Pearl Tower, another ¥50 for dinner and ¥1o for extraneous expenses. I dropped ¥170 like it was nothing because in my mind that was only $10.
My friend (at the time) JC and I walked along the Huangpu River that night. We saw a boy in ripped rags and torn slippers. He looked about 10 years old. He approached us raising a flower in his hand and said…
“一块，一块。要不要花？”(One dollar, one dollar. Do you want flowers?)
He haggled a little. We politely declined. I turned around and watched him zig-zag his way down the path. He made sure not to miss a single couple. JC and I sat down on the stone-rimmed flowerbed and watched the boy pace back and forth under the moon light.
6. My 3 Best Kept Travel Secrets
Travel Secret #1: Art of Cheap Accommodations
Travel Secret #2: Kaifeng, China
Travel Secret #3: Climb The Great Wall When It Snows
What are some of your best kept travel secrets?
Share!
7. Chinese Migrant Workers At The Plaza de Oriente
JC and I walked non-stop these past two days. It was either restless leg syndrome or it was the excitement of being in Madrid. I thought we would take it a little slower on the third day but nope – not when traveling with JC.He only knows one speed – and it’s just go, go, go, go, go!
We began the day with a trip to Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, home of Real Madrid.
8. Kaifeng, China: Chinese Jews
This was Kaifeng’s welcome to us. Fog? Pollution? Combination? I don’t know but it was one hell of a welcome. I held out my hand and saw nothing. I looked down and I had no feet. We blindly walked forward – away from the train station and closer to the sound of the road. We had a hard time crossing the street. We couldn’t see the cars and bicycles and they couldn’t see us. We played it by ear. Literally. And hailing a cab? I want to say, “Fuggedaboutit,” but we managed to do so. Till this day, it still puzzles me.
9. I’m a nerd. I like math and I like to plan. Excel is my best friend. I can’t live without my planner. When it comes to traveling, I get excited at the thought of creating a new spreadsheet. Budgeting is my favorite part. How low can I go?
10. A Snowman On The Great Wall of China
I conquered 7,200 steps to the top of Taishan and trekked 4 hours around the West Lake in Hangzhou. Climbing The Great Wall? Sure! No problem. Except I forgot to factor in the high altitude and nearly freezing temperature. Read more…
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My 3 Best Kept Travel Secrets
Saturday, November 14th, 2009This is the Tripbase Blog Tag. “The aim of this game is to unite travel bloggers in a joint endeavor – to create an amazing list of top travel recommendations across the globe to share with the entire online travel community.” – Katie from Tripbase.com
Without further adieu, here are my top 3 best kept travel secrets. I guess these won’t be secrets anymore.
Terrace View At The Hali Hotel, Istanbul
Travel Secret #1: Art of Cheap Accommodations
Everyone has their own travel style. It’s all about perspective. For me, lodging is minimal. I don’t need a Tempurpedic mattress and a flat screen TV. All I really need is a bed with no bed bugs and a bathroom that flushes. Lodging serves as a storage room where I can fall face flat on the pillow after a 15 hour foot exploration Sometimes I book rooms before I arrive. Sometimes I arrive homeless, which isn’t as scary as it sounds. It’s actually much cheaper.
- Arrive in person
- Tell the hotel/hostel half the number of days you’re actually staying. For example, if you’re traveling for 10 days, tell them 5.
- When a daily quote is given, ask then for lower rates for an extended stay. (That’s where the extra 5 days come in handy.)
- After they give you a quote for the extended stay, offer to pay in cash if they could lower the rates even more.
- Then show them your student ID and ask if they have student discounts. (This works better in youth hostels than in hotels.)
My 8-day trip to Istanbul was only $1270 – $640 for round-trip tickets and $630 for everything else. I spent less than $80 a day, including accommodation, food, entrance fees, transportation and souvenirs. I’d say it’s a pretty good deal for independent traveling.
Travel Secret #2: Kaifeng, China
In response to my impression at the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, Erica from Traveling Blissful commented, “I think many tourist sites are too hyped up and leave travelers feeling disappointed, wondering ‘What’s so great about this?’” Popular tourist attractions come with high expectations. The more I travel, the more I realize how exquisite the smaller, less discovered places are.
Kaifeng, China is a place was a place where I had no expectations. It was also a place that blew me away. It was here where I discovered Chinese Jews, people of Jewish descent living in China, and their fascinating history and community. It was also here, the view above, where I realized this: the beauty of traveling through China is that sometimes, I feel like I’m in two places at once – the past and the present.
A Snow Day On The Great Wall of China - Photo by Jabari Bell
Travel Secret #3: Climb The Great Wall When It Snows
Everyone knows that The Great Wall is impressive in length and in beauty. You’ll sweat buckets if you’re climbing it during the summer and you’ll be throwing elbows if you’re visiting during spring and fall. It’s harder to appreciate the context of it’s surrounding when The Great Wall is inundated with tourists and cameras. I’d recommend visiting in the winter, preferably when it snows. Why? Because…
- You’ll see The Great Wall frosted in snow.
- You’ll have The Great Wall all to yourself.
- You’ll see the rolling mountains and the vastness of the land that it sits on.
- You can build a snowman on The Great Wall of China!
- And because the snow makes it’s ridiculously fun to glide down the descending slopes.
Now, how many of you can say you’ve a snow day on The Great Wall of China?
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Now, I’d like to nominate these 5 amazing bloggers to share their top 3 travel secrets on their blog. Tag! You’re it!
- Emma, Aye & Jack at GotPassport
- Keith at VelvetEscape
- Carrie at MySeveralWorld
- Jennifer & David at ApproachGuides
- Talen at Thailand, Land of Smiles
