Sunday, April 12, 2009
Beijing, China
being outside, so we hurried and called a taxi to take us to our hotel. When we checked into our room, it was like walking into heaven. The hotel room was cold, with the air conditioning on. It felt so good that soon, both Chad and I fell asleep on the beds. We slept through the afternoon and woke up at around 7 o’clock. We went downstairs to the hotel restaurant and ordered many Chinese dishes, including the infamous Peking duck. It was so delicious, definitely not something you can taste everyday. After the delicious dinner, we decided to go back to our rooms and get ready for bed again. We were so full we could fall asleep anywhere.
The next day, we went to visit the Forbidden City. The City was
the largest and best-preserved imperial palace in the world. Chad and I spent a lot of the day looking into the rooms and taking pictures. It was a beautiful sight. All the furnishings were still inside. I also heard there are 9,999 rooms in this magnificent palace. We then went out for lunch at a noodle resturant. I had a beef noodle, while Chad had a vegetarian one. It was absolutely delicious. Maybe it was the fact that we were so hungry, walking all day and looking into the many spectacular rooms of the palace. On the last day of our stay in Beijing, we went to visit the Great Wall of China. When we arrived at the beginning of the wall, we stood in wonder, staring at how
long the wall actually is. Good thing we had our running shoes on, for we were in for a day of workout. We walked with a lot of other tourists along the Wall. It was so tiring because it was so hot and there were so many people together, which certainly didn’t make the heat any better. We kept walking and taking pictures or each other. I was so sweaty and so tired that I could just collapse. But Chad told me there’s something special at the end of the Wall. So I kept going, while holding onto her arm. She was right. At the end of the long climb, there were medals given to people who actually finished from the start to finish. We bought some souvenirs and went back to our hotel to pack for our trip to Vietnam. Taiwan/Taipei
We are in Taiwan now. Taiwan is a weird place, Taiwanese people are super nice to the foreigners but they have serious political problems with their own kind. Other than that, it is a great place for traveling. One thing on the our Must Go List is the NIGHT MARKET! Night market is awesome. We played games, eat snacks(not real snacks, but special stands that only serve a certain kind of side dish), and buy cheap stuff.
Oyster Omelet
Fried stinky tofu. Super delicious.
crowded night market
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The National Palace Museum is a great place to go. We found amazing historical relics inside the museum. There is the famous Jadeite Cabbage with Insect, the Meat-shaped Stone, and the Mao-kung Ting. All of them are curios from ancient time China. Great artworks that amaze people.
Sculpture of jade
Mao-kung Ting, the cauldron
The stone shaped like meat. Tong po meat, the favorite dish of a great poet of China.--------------------------------------------Chad-----------------------------------------------
Beautiful hot spring place!--------------------------------------------Chad-----------------------------------------------
The last stop in Taipei was Xi Meng Ding. It is a place that young people go hang out at. The place is filled with different kinds of stores. People buy clothes, shoes, food, accessories, etc. there. It is also a place where the celebrities go and promote, they would also have activities for fans to get in touch with their idols.
SPONGE CAKE!
Xi Meng Ding.
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Taiwan's symbol is also shown on the flag. Taiwan was a colony of Japan, after the 11th revolution led by Sun Yat-Sen(father of Taiwan) Taiwan finally defeated the Japanese and gained freedom. The flag was designed with red blood on the ground, blue sky, and the white sun on top. It showed how hard the people fought in order to gain freedom and to remember this forever.
South Korea
After we finished, we went to visit the waters of the Shining Aquarium. The aquarium was even more beautiful and enchanting at night. The glows of the many different and vibrant fish were so pretty. The best part of the aquarium was when we walked on these transparent, glass floors. It was called the Thrill Water. We weren't aware that there were Banded Hound Sharks and ray fish were swimming below us. It literally made it feel as if we were walking above the ocean floor.After we left the aquarium, we were too tired to continue. So we went back to the hotel and slept for the night. The next day, however, we were up and ready to continue exploring! We decided to go to Seoul Jung-gu Taepyeongno1-ga Seoul Plaza. We paid for two tickets into the ice skating rink and had tons of fun in the huge ground of ice. I remember Chad fell and tried to get me to pull her up. Too bad I lost my balance and we both fell. Haha. After we were tired of the cold and falling, we stopped and went shopping at Itaewon. The fashion stores there were AMAZING. There was so much to see that we had to come back the next day. I bought a lot of Korean clothes and accessories to last me a lifetime.
On our last adventure in Korea, we went to another concert. This time, it was Big Bang, a big hit in Korea at the moment. I really love Big Bang, and one of the reasons for this trip is to go to one of their concerts.
On our trip to Korea, I learned that the symbol on the Korean flag was the BaGua, which literally means "8 symbols". These 8 symbols represent order and peace of mind. The symbols are Qian (Heaven), Xun (Wind), Kan (Water), Gen (Mountain), Kun (Earth), Zhen (Thunder), Li (Fire), and Dui (Lake)
- Tawni
Japan
Is Chad.
I always wanted to come to Japan. It is one of the place on my list of places that I want to go to. Because I love Japanese food, Japanese characters (ex. the brown square thing that has the name of hello), Japanese dramas, and my favorite band is from Japan --- KAT-TUN.
One of the places that people MUST visit is Sensoji. It is one of the historical places in Japan. It is the oldest temple in Japan. Drama scenes often take place there because when people need an oracle for direction of life, they can go to temples like Sensoji to ask for an oracle.
The most famous gate that people take pictures at
Yummy yummy ningyoyaki(molded cake)
get your amulet here.
place to get oracle~--Chad--Chad--Chad--Chad--Chad--Chad--Chad--Chad--Chad--Chad--Chad--Chad--Chad--
Also, Tokyo Disney Resort is the most popular that tourists go in Japan. Different from the California Disneyland, the Tokyo DisneySea is a theme park with all themed ports on water. Even thought is not completely the same, the Tokyo Disney Resort's design is still mostly similar to the Disneyland in California. We love them both because Tawni and I love Disney. : D
the water fountain in Tokyo DisneySea.
Night show in Tokyo Disney Resort. SO PRETTY!!!
--Chad--Chad--Chad--Chad--Chad--Chad--Chad--Chad--Chad--Chad--Chad--Chad--Chad--
The best thing about Japan is Mister Donut. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Mister Donut. It is the BEST DONUT STORE EVER! Their characters of the stores are so cute too.
characters!!! <3<3<3>the store
The last thing we did was the concert. It is a dream come true! I was so glad that we could make it because it is the last day of their(KAT-TUN) concert tour, and it was in the Tokyo Dome. We kept shouting encore and they had to come out again and again. I think they had to pay the fee for extending the use of time of the dome, but it was worth it. Because it was the last concert of the year! BEST EXPERIENCE EVER!!! I'll even smile while sleeping... *Laugh Out Loud*
--Chad--Chad--Chad--Chad--Chad--Chad--Chad--Chad--Chad--Chad--Chad--Chad--Chad--
Usually a country's symbol is shown on its flag. Japan's symbol is the sun, simple but very symbolic. Japanese in the ancient time believed that the god of sun created Japan, and so the emperor is the son of the god. Sun is used on flags and fans when claiming land during war, later on they used it as the symbol of the country. Therefore, they put the red sun on their flag.
