The Cab Driver and Kung-Fu

The morning we left Shenyang it was rainy and it was 6:45am.  We were staying in a hotel under construction on a street that was also under construction, and we hadn't thought to have the hotel right down "airport" in Chinese for us (do this anytime you take a cab in China).

The street was under construction so cars could drive part way down and then make a u-turn.  We should have walked down to the intersection to get a cab, but we waited in the rain for 10 minutes on the partially closed street and an empty cab turned down the road.  From the moment the guy pulled over, things did not go well.  We opened the back door and said airport and I think Rodney showed him airport in Chinese in the phrase book we have.  He started yelling at us loudly in Chinese.  We looked at each other and slammed the back door and started walking down to the main intersection to get a different cab.  Being yelled at before you get in is a bad sign.  Then the guy was out of his cab, continuing to yell at us, but now the trunk was open and he was grabbing one of our bags and gesturing wildly at the back seat.  We took the cab ride, we knew better, it sucked.  I hate that cab driver.  He drove incredibly slow the whole way because his cab was so janky (this also ran up the fare).  He smoked even though we made it clear we prefer he didn't.  He was an asshole of the first order, and we knew it from the moment we hailed the cab.

Earlier today, after a relaxing morning, Rodney and I went out for a bite to eat.  We thought we'd try some Chinese fast food (there is a huge variety near our hotel).  We landed on Kung-Fu, a chain with a Bruce Lee-like man (it might be Bruce Lee) on their sign.  At the counter we were presented with a menu with English descriptions.  We were debating our order when a small cockroach crawled into the center of the menu.  Rodney and I were visibly unnerved.  The girl behind the counter killed the roach and muttered an apology.  We should have left.  No doubt about it. Instead, we overplayed the cultural sensitivity card.  Things in our travels thus far are different from home, significantly different.  Standards are not the same.  We have stayed places that we likely would not have stayed in.  We have eaten meats that were not refrigerated cooked in place that do not conform to health department standards.  We have used bathrooms that I would not like to describe, and you would not like to imagine.

So, we ordered.  Rodney got tiny pork ribs with garlic, and I got chicken with mushrooms.  We got our food (which included two bowls of congealed soup).  Not too much of surprise, it was awful.  God awful.  The worst thing we've eaten since Mongolia.  This is saying a lot as almost everything we've eaten in China from street food to the nicest restaurants has been very good to spectacular.  We took not a lot of bites and walked out.

This may seem obvious from the two stories relayed here, but instincts are not lost in translation.  Trust them.

China Recommendations

If you're in China and looking for an inexpensive place to stay, we would like submit for your review...

Motel 168

The Orange Hotel (Their website is a pain, but you can reserve through many of the hotel booking sites.)

Both are clean and cheap and have many locations throughout China.

If you're looking for an ATM in China that will accept your card without issue, look for an Agricultural Bank of China (ABC).  We've had some difficulty in this regard, but ABC has always come through.

Unexpected Soundtrack

It quickly became apparent in Korea that natural sound isn't desirable.  We hiked up a mountain with beautiful carved Buddhas and came to rest at an ancient temple.  The sound of the wind in the trees and birds chirping and perhaps some monks chanting (live) would have been a quiet moment of serenity.  Someone had other ideas.  Hidden speakers piped in music.  The music (in this case) wasn't bad or too loud, but it was definitely out of place.

This has not been an isolated incident and has not been limited to quiet moments.  At the beach in Sokcho, South Korea. there were many opportunities to ride in inflated tubes and rafts while being pulled behind speed boats.  People LOVED it.  Having experienced this type of activity before, I fully expected to here the delighted screams of gleefully terrified young people.  Not the case.  The speed boats were equipped with large speaker blaring pop music.  I guess this was meant to enhance the whole experience, but, in order for the raft/tube-riders to here it, the music was played at such a loud volume that it muddy and distorted.

The piped in soundtrack is not only present in Korea, we have been to several sites in China where the natural sound is apparently not enough.  The tourist sites we visit are plenty authentic (though I do wish that there wasn't quite so much modern signage), but the piped in music seems to angle at increasing the degree of authenticity.  Maybe I'm curmudgeon and think everyone should turn their music down (this is often true), but I just find it makes these places a bit less interesting.

Do You Speak English?

In South Korea that answer was often a resounding "yes".  That's not
totally true actually, the answer was often "no", but then people
would go on to have lengthy conversations with us in English.  We
learned fairly quickly that starting a conversation in English was
more effective than asking first.

What struck us as most interesting about many of these conversations
in English was what it seemed to reveal about Korean as a language.
Americans often hedge when you ask them about something.  You could
this or you could do that.  You can take the interstate, but there's
also a back road or a parkway if highway driving doesn't suit you.

I am not a linguist, but spending a month speaking English with many
South Koreans from different parts of the country revealed a much more
emphatic way of speaking.  They don't hedge.  When we asked what to do
or where to go in a certain town, we were given a precise list, an
order in which that list should be completed and how to most
efficiently complete that list.  "Let me make you a plan..." was a
phase often uttered.  The first few times we had these interactions, I
would remark to Rodney that people were helpful, but that they seemed
a bit instructive, bordering on rude.

We came to believe that this is not the case at all.  It is our
totally unscientific guess that Korean is a declarative language
without the cornucopia of modifiers and softeners that Americans so
often employ.  It was kind of refreshing.  We asked and we always got
a direct answer.

The thing that sealed the deal for us on this theory was our trip to
the Leeum Samsung Museum of Contemporary Art.  Leeum is a great museum
in an beautiful area of Seoul. It is also unlike almost any other
museum experience I have had. The museum is divided in 3 buildings,
and you present your ticket at each to enter. As your ticket is
scanned the staff person tells you where to begin your tour of museum.
This did not seem so strange, but then you arrive at the prescribed
floor and are met by a second staff person who beckons at the first of
many arrows that indicated the path by which you are to view the works
of art. The whole of your journey through the museum is directed by a
series of these arrows and often accompanied with gentle gestures by
the staff if you seem unsure of where to go next. Again, no hedging.
A path laid out to follow.

Side Note:  We have returned to China.  This is land of spotty and
slow Internet.  A sad state of affairs after coming from South Korea,
the most wired place ever.  Tons of pictures of Shanghai have been
taken.  Uploading to resume as soon as possible.

Like Clockwork

We have been traveling in South Korea for close to a month and can report that both the train and bus systems here are nearly flawless.  Both run frequently, are consistently on time and cars/cabins are clean and well appointed.  Bus travel here resembles something much closer to overland business-class travel than what you might think of Greyhound.

Prices are reasonable for both buses and trains (we never paid more than US$20) for trips ranging from 1-3 hours, and even the KTX high speed rail (Busan to Seoul in 3 hours) was a good deal at around US$45/person.

Should you ever be planning intra-South Korea transport the below two websites came in very handy for us...

Korail Korea Railroad Online Booking

Official Korea Tourism Organization - Express Bus Page

Buy Korean

There is much we could learn from the people of South Korea, but one of the things that has repeatedly struck us is how much stuff that it manufactured here is consumed here.  Coming from America, particularly in the Northeast, seeing foreign cars and electronics is common.  It is almost more surprising when someone has chosen to buy Kodak or RCA rather than Sony or Panasonic.

Not in South Korea.  Kia, Hyundai, LG and Samsung are everywhere.  Rodney and I are owners of a Hyundai car and two Samsung TVs and can attest to the quality of these products, but it's truly amazing to see how successful they are in their home market.

Korean Fast Food

There's a lot of fast food in South Korea.  The American players were everywhere in Seoul, but now that we're in Sokcho, there's a much better mix of the locals and foreign chains.

Rodney and I have so far sampled two of homegrown options - Mr. Pizza and Lotteria.  Mr. Pizza is not worth your time unless you are huge fan of Domino's back in the states.  They do make an effort to make it their own though with such offerings as the "Shrimp King" pie, and out-of-box creations that see the crusts filled with sweet potato mousse.  Rodney and I opted for the "New York Special" - standard pizza chain crust, too sweet (and not enough) sauce, cheese and plethora of toppings.  A nice break for one meal, but we will not be returning.

Lotteria is a different story entirely.  Rodney and I both opted for the "Giant Double Burger" set meal - drink and fries included.  Excellent in all aspects.  Tasted more beefy than the big boys from the US.  The liberal use of "thousand sauce" was also greatly appreciated by both of us.  There is another menu item that I believe is called the "Euro Frico Classic" - seriously.  There is nothing really classic as far as I can tell, but it might be genius.  It would appear that it's one beef patty and then a second patty of fried cheese - think mozzarella stick in patty form.  We need to try this.  Maybe they included classic in the name in reference to instant classic?  Who can say for sure?

There is a third chain that bares mentioning though it is a Japanese import.  I also hold it in such high esteem that it might cheapen it's awesome to speak of it in the same post as the others.  I speak, of course, of the venerable Mister Donut.  Words can't do their product justice.  I love these donuts.  They are less sweet and more chewy than either Dunkin' or Krispy Kreme.  I can't recommend them enough.  On our last visit, I enjoyed a round, holeless donut with the consistency of French cruller.  Pure magic.  Go to this place.  Eat donuts.

Our Gear - Two Months In

Before we came on this trip Rodney and I debated our gear.  A lot.  I bought tons of gear months before we even had plane tickets.  Then we packed.  Much ended up not even making the trip.  Then we went to Mongolia, and we sent home a box with even more of our stuff.

Now we're three countries in, and, today, we talked about what we would recommend if you were going to take this kind of adventure.  It boils down to four essential things...

1. A rain shell - very lightweight and collapsible.
2. Seriously comfortable hiking shoes - Rodney and I both went with Merrell's.  After much discussion we both brought very breathable, non-waterproof shoes.  It's hot here and waterproof shoes trap as much water as they repel.
3.  Technical underwear - spend the money, it's totally worth it.  I like the Smartwool boxer-briefs, Rodney is partial to Ex-Officio.  Five pairs is about right.  These resist odor and can be washed out in any sink.
4.  Technical socks.  We both went with WrightSock DLXs.  You can wear them for days.

Other than the above, don't buy anything you don't have to.  Things get beaten up, it's way easier to part with old stuff and inexpensive replacements abound.  Also, Rodney made the point earlier today, you get bored with your clothes when you have so few and it's nice to buy a new shirt/pants/shorts/etc. from time to time.

Safety First

Things in South Korea are safe.  Very safe.  This has been particularly evident during our time in Sokcho.

The beach is an excellent place to witness Korean safety in action.  The swimming area is wide, but only extends about 30 feet out into the water.  At no time would anyone over a height of five feet tall be unable to stand.  There are three lifegaurds stationed every 75 yards, and they are paying attention.  If you go even one foot outside the swimming area whistles are vigorously blow and violent gesturing ensues until you have returned to the proper roped off area.

In terms of personal argumentations to all of this public safety, people here love flotation devices.  Life jackets are common in the swimming area (again you can stand the whole time).  Life jackets paired with inflatable inner tubes are also commonplace. 

Rodney and I also witnessed safety on our two visits to Seoraksan National Park.  Everything is very well marked.  The trails, the off limits areas, everything

There are however two areas to which this overwhelming sense of safety does not extend.  The first is drinking.  South Koreans, men in particular, like to drink.  Beer and soju are the beverages of choice, and they are consumed to excess. Often.  Rodney and I have witnessed the following in our two weeks here...

- A man, probably 45, in business attire, sitting in the street vomiting into a plastic grocery back.
- Two men, both in suits, screaming in the street.  After several minutes of screaming, one man choked the other man in full view of everyone.
- At the beach, two men drinking with a woman.  Both men ended up passed out at the table while the woman sat and enjoyed the sunset.

These are but three examples of literally dozens that we could relate.

The second area, was much more surprising to us.  Put simply, there is a tons of open flame in South Korea.  This is mostly in the context of food, Korean barbecue specifically.  Imagine a table with either a circular or rectangular cut-out in the middle.  Into that hole they place a pile of burning hot coals and a grill.  You grill beef, pork or seafood yourself.  This works brilliantly, but to get the coals into the table, they are carried through the restaurant.  Often the tool used to carry the coals is nothing more than a metal rod notched at the end that hooks in the metal coal container.  Rodney and I have debated more that once how many injuries per year result from barbecue restaurant mishaps.

Beer

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.  If that's the case the case, the folks at Anheuser-Busch and Miller should definitely feel flattered.  Asian beers (Mongolian, Chinese and Korean specifically) by and large seek to mimic the light yellow, easy drinkability of the American macrobrew.  Three countries and all of the below could easily pass muster in you local American mini-mart as some thing cheap and domestic...

-Golden Gobi
-Tsingtao
-Yangjing
-Snow
-OB
-Cass
-Max

This is not a value judgment by any means.  We've drunk quite a bit of beer and it's been lovely to feel that all that's really changed is the label.

So, Gan Bei, Wihayeo and Erüül mehdiin tölöö.  Keep up the good work, we'll keep drinking.

Mirror, mirror on the wall...

We're in Seoul and it's awesome. It's also hard to miss how often people look at themselves in the mirror here. There are large full length mirrors in many of the subway stations, used by both men and women. The compact mirror - often less compact than you might be used to - is also a must have accessory for young women here.

It is all to good effect though. The residents of Seoul are an attractive and well put together bunch. There is a sense of style here that was completely lacking during our travels in both China and Mongolia.

Belated Posting on China

I started a post on Shenyang more than a week ago and never finished. Here is part of that post plus some thoughts on China in general...

Shenyang is a city of over seven million people that until two weeks ago I had never heard of. It feels like a more vertical city than Beijing. I think though that's a function of the wide streets and large footprint buildings in Beijing rather than there being extremely tall buildings in Shenyang.

I had thought that there was little to no ancient history in Shenyang, but you just need to look for it. We has some of our best tourist experiences there. The Northern Tomb and the Imperial Palace are both well worth a few days in Shenyang. There is also apparently a huge botanical garden but we didn't make it because of the soaking rains.

We took the train to Shenyang and watching China roll past the window early in the morning it became clear how much the landscape has been shaped and reshaped over the centuries. Looking out at China that morning every tree and rocks looked like it's been placed. The landscape feels like a collaboration of generations in a way that is both readily apparent and very different from how it feels to travel through America. China is remaking itself now to be sure, but it has been remade itself many times before.

Beijing feels like it is set. The vision is in place. It works. It is the Chinese capital and it is a prime site for visitors to China. Someone understands how to move people around and give them a good experience. We were not an oddity there. Occasionally in a local restaurant but not usually.

Shenyang is a city on the move. Tons of construction, a complete reinvention of the downtown. They are realizing a new vision and it is far from complete.

Retail is a seemingly huge part of that vision. The area we stayed in was mall after mall, often with same stores. People were buying. Shenyang feels like it has tremendous middle class. This was different than Beijing. Beijing feels like there is a large wealth gap. There are still a lot of very poor people in what is seemingly a hugely prosperous city.

All of the above is obviously anecdotal and comes from a tiny little window of time and experience. I was fascinated by China. I'm looking forward to checking out Shanghai in a few weeks and getting another look at a tiny piece of China.

Glasses City Update

After 3 days of mild headaches, I had to give up on the new glasses
from glasses city. My revised recommend would be to shop for cheap
frames there and have lens put in at your trusted eye care
professional back home.

How many people does it take...

...well if you're us and you're in China, the answer is many. To be
fair, part of it is definitely the language barrier, and it seems we
often are in places that do not get a lot of Western tourists. That
said, almost everything service oriented has involved dealing with two
(often three+) people often at the same time. We can attribute some
of this to our novelty, but there is real workforce surplus here.
Restaurants and retail stores illustrate this most graphically as we
have frequently witnessed a 1-to-1 ratio of staff to patrons.

Last night was the crowning jewel of this when almost the entire
front-of-the-house staff at a restaurant stood around while we ordered
dinner. We had an audience of at least 9 for this incredibly mundane
activity.

Google Maps Transit

We're in Shenyang, and it's not so easy to get around here. As is
often the case, the folks at Google have our backs. We discovered
this morning that with a little trial and error (Chinese address can
be difficult to get into a form Gmaps likes), we were able to get
accurate bus directions in a city that offers little in the way of
English maps and directions.

If you find the addresses for any 2 points you want to travel between
written in Chinese (even if your browser/computer doesn't load the
Chinese font) copy and paste them into Gmaps. The English formatting
of Chinese addresses often is not immediately recognized by Gmaps and
will require (much) tweaking.

We wish we'd played with the this more in Beijing, but Beijing is much
easier to navigate on the whole.

I'll try to report back on how this works in Korea. We will hopefully
be arriving in Seoul tomorrow evening.

Korea Side Note: If you or anyone you know is going to be in Seoul or
Sokcho (or anywhere else in South Korea) in the next month please let
us know (you can email us at plansmall@gmail.com ). We'd love to
meet-up.