Shanghai - Part One

I finally made it to Shanghai. And let me tell you it was not easy. Booking the ticket itself was even hard (a special thanks to Neenie for the ticket for the graduation present!). I learned, the hard way, that booking tickets in anywhere is Asia is not easy. You can't just go to a discount website, book it online, put in your credit number, and print your e-ticket. You have to go through a travel agency no matter what. And if you want to use a credit card you must pay a 6% service charge and fax over a filled out credit card form to the agency. On top of all of this (which I had to do at work where the fax machine was), I had to make sure I flew into the correct airport in Shanghai. Shanghai has two airports, Pudong, the main/large airport, and Hongqiao, the smaller/newer airport. Of course I flew into the smaller and less known airport. The first time around I accidently booked to Pudong. oops! Lucky you don't pay when you book and can cancel before you pay. In addition to the airplane ticket fiasco, I had to get a visa to get into China. Kind of annoying since I already have one for Hong Kong and this China visa would set me back $110 US dollars. yuck. So FINALLY after getting my flight and visa sorted out weeks ago I made it to the airport with HOURS to spare on Thursday afternoon. I gave myself tons of extra time since I was unfamiliar with the airport/was traveling internationally/don't speak cantonese. Turns out it was too much time since my flight was delayed an extra 45 mins. I got to the airport around 3pm and my flight didn't leave until about 7:45pm after all the delays.

Plane ticket and passport visa

However, once I finally got on the plane it was smooth sailing. One thing Asian airlines have on the US airlines, customer service. I was only a 2 hour flight and the stewardess came around with free newspaper at the beginning of the flight (in Cantonese, Mandarin, and English), drinks twice, and a meal! Crazy! Lucky Kris was waiting right at the gate when I got off the plane since my cell phone doesn't work in Shanghai.
Kris and Micheal have an amazing apartment in the Shanghai Raquet Club (SRC) and I feel honored to be the first family member to visit them here! We didn't get to the apartment until late so I said a quick hi to everyone (including the dog Petey) and went to bed. Molly was kind enough to let me have her room for the weekend.

My activities of Friday, although dull to some, were, for me, very much needed. I slept in until 9AM and it felt great. I got up and did laundry! FINALLY! I don't think I've every been so happy to do laundry in an American Style washer and dryer in my life. I spent the morning having real breakfast, doing laundry (although not without their nanny/maid trying to help), and reading. It was amazing. Then I hit the gym at the veryyy nice country club. After the gym I went to the spa (also located in SRC) called Dragonfly for an hour long Chinese massage (thanks Kris!). After that is was back 'home' for a real, i repeat REAL, shower. I didn't think my day could get any better. It's the simple things in life these days . Amazing what living in a hostel for 2 months with no money can do to your perspective on life.
Kris and the kids came home from school around 3:30pm. From there the kids changed into their Halloween costumes and the 4 of us went trick-or-treating around the complex with some of the other families who live in the SRC complex that also work at the school. They passed out candy for the kids and some houses had drinks for the adults. Fun for all ages! Afterward there was a dinner for the ~60 people that were a part of the group. With that we called it a night!

Halloween - Molly is a dog and Benjamin is a skeleton

Tomorrow Kris and I are off to do some site seeing around Shanghai while Benjamin has a swim meet and Molly and Micheal hang out. I'm excited to get out and see the city!

More to come soon!
Love, Kels

Life update

There is not particular topic for this post, just an update on my life the past week!

  Last Friday I met up with some people my age, many new to Hong Kong like myself and a couple Hong Kong natives. We went out to a great Italian place called Pizza Express. Although the name makes it sound like a fast food place, it was actually a really fun, relatively authentic Italian restaurant with great food. Sometimes I think Chinese restaurant owners don't really understand the meaning behind restaurant names they choose here or don't think twice about how the words may be translated. Anyways, after dinner we went for drinks at a bar on the water called McLovins. It was expensive but had a great view and live music.

On Saturday I met up with Eszter and her fiance, Zoltan, to go to the beach. Eszter is a new volunteer at Ocean Park who just moved here from Hungary for Zoltan's job (he is a vet). We went to Clear Water Bay. It was very beautiful. The water was pretty clear and relatively clean and we ended up spending most of the day there swimming and exploring.

On Sunday I met up with my same friends I went out with on Friday, my friends from the GeoExPat website. We went out for brunch at an American type resturant. They serve 'diner' type food 24 hours a day. They name of the place is called The Flying Pan. It was nice to have an American type breakfast since they are hard to find here!

Veggie omelet with toast and fruit

My busy weekend continued into Monday where I met my veggie group for dinner. It is a meet up group I found online which they call 'Meatout Monday'. They meet every Monday at a different vegetarian restaurant in Hong Kong. They meals are usually served family style so you get to try a little bit of everything! This time we went to a 'food stall'. So there is basically this huge food market that is like a food court with a bunch of different stalls. You sit at a table near the stall but are basically mixed in with everyone. This stall was called Kan Kee Vegetarian Stall. It is owned by one women who has two cooks. The food was great and reasonably priced. I even went back tonight (Thurs) for dinner and got some food for take-out. The owner, Elsa, is very friendly and talked with me and wrote down my name, gave me a takeout menu and her cell phone number so I can call my orders in ahead of time. Here are some pictures of the food we had. . .

Fake glazed pork

cooked veggies

bean curd skin with ginger and veggies

On Wednesday night I went to the Happy Vally Racecourse with my GeoExPat friends. They have an Oktoberfest theme every Wednesday in October. So we had fun watching the races and watching the activities at the beer tents.

This week I also got a job at a tutoring agency. I will be tutoring Chinese students (kids in grade school) in conversational English. It will only be for an hour or two on the weekends but I'll be making about the same amount of money I make for a whole day at Ocean Park! So it will be nice to have a little be of extra money!


And last, but certainly not least, everyone here is anticipating 'Super Typhoon Megi'. This typhoon already hit the Philippines and has winds comparable to Hurricane Katrina. Right now the major part of the storm is supposed to hit a bit north of Hong Kong but we are still planning to get lots of wind and rain. Right now Hong Kong is under a T3 warning signal. The order goes T1, T3, T8, and last T10. Why this order? why not just go T1-T4? Because nothing makes sense in Hong Kong, that's why. Anyways, I digress. Right now we are at T3, but businesses and all public transportation close at level T10, which may happen on Friday afternoon. Either way I will try and keep you guys updated. Either way send your prayers, I don't feel like getting stuck in a Hurricane Katrina-like situation over here by myself. . .

the small red star on the coast is Hong Kong

This coming up - I will be visiting my mom's cousin, Kris, and her family in Shanghai next weekend (Oct 28-31)! I am very excited to see mainland China! (but don't even get me started on the process it took me to get my visa to get to China...)

As always, I miss all my family and friends back in that states!
Until next time, Kels xoxo

Dolphin Training

Here are some pictures of me 'training' Ginsan, a 5 year old Indo-Pacific bottle Nose Dolphin. He is the main dolphin we work with in our Match-to-Sample research. Although I am 'training' him, it is more like he is training me because he has been doing these behaviors everyday for the past 5 years. I am the one just learning the behaviors and how to signal him. If he does a behavior wrong, it is usually not his fault, it is most likely because I was unclear on my signaling or messed up. Either way it is always fun getting to know him and spending time with him.

I have done 5 training sessions so far and can't wait to do more!

Belly-up...I like doing this because it gives me the chance to rub his belly, which he enjoys, and build trust

Feeding fish after a correct behavior

Hug

Kiss

Kiss again

Pec present . . . another chance to give him a rub/scratch

Spit water

I can't believe I am actually getting a chance to train dolphins. It seems like I have been wanting to do this since I was in 8th grade. I'm pretty sure it is every kids dream to be a dolphin trainer at some point or another in their life. I am lucky I get to try it at all, even if it is only once a week for a couple of months!

As always, I miss my family and friends back home. But I am getting very excited for my mom, Auntie Neenie, Grandma Joan, and dad to come visit!

Love, Kels

I Love Animals

I am dedicating this post to the animals I have seen so far in Hong Kong. I figured it appropriate I dedicate at least one post to them since, after all, I hope to work with them for the rest of my life!


These first pictures are of wild monkeys in the Hong Kong mountains. I had the opportunity to go with a few of the veterinarians from Ocean Park on a monthly trip they take to go 'Monkey Catching.' During this 'monkey catching' the lure monkeys into a large cage with food. The day I went there were about 40 monkeys in total. Once they are caught they are given anesthesia in order to get their weight, temperature, give them a vaccine, and if they are a mature female they are spayed. This project was created to control the problem of overpopulation of the monkeys in the area as well as vaccinate them against spreading disease.

All the monkeys together about to be released!

Sleeping monkeys waiting to get vaccines

Baby monkeys waiting for mom!

This is one of the Sea Lions from Pacific Pier at Ocean Park

This is Ginsan, one of the dolphins participating in our research project at Ocean Park

Ginsan and I . . . I can't wait to do more training with him!

Red Panda at Ocean Park

Giant Panda at Ocean Park