Portland, Oregon
Hampton Inn room 438
No idea what time it is. I'm in Portland. Tonight I met Kyle and Misty at the bar at the Shelton which is right next to the Hampton where I am staying. I drank one Black Butte (it was a funny name) and one Budweiser. Misty blows glass and Kyle is an elementary school teacher. They came over to my hotel room and we got stoned and we talked about our travels. Misty packed the one-hitter about six times and we got ripped as hell. I'm so thankful to be able to move again because being on a plane is so uncomfortable and tiresome but I'm lively now. It is about 1:00 Portland time so that means it is 4:00am at home. I can't stop thinking about a Blue Moon beer and it's probably because of the song. Kyle and Misty leave and as soon as they closed the door I forever forgot what they looked like. I made a conscious effort not to take a picture of them when I had the chance. I did some push-ups and played with the free hotel things. It's good to be high. I would love to live out of a backpack. Kung-Fu is the art of breathing. I'm traveling and doing exactly what I want to do forever.
In this part of town it seems that actual contact with people is few and far between. I think I'm the only person staying at this hotel and I think I'm the only one whose being shuttled around by this superior service. I'll be in China tomorrow which is actually today due to the whole time zone change thing. Today I will fly across the Pacific Ocean. I've been thinking an awful lot about this specific endeavor and it has occurred to me that out of all of mankind, all throughout history, only a small percent have traveled across the Pacific Ocean and that is a shame. I've always wanted to see Asia. I'm so stoned right now. I wish it was 400 years ago and I could witness feudal China but I wouldn't have been allowed in because that was long before she opened her doors to foreigners. In China I will meet up with my cousin Robert and his family. I will also be meeting up with Ian and Alan who left the day after I did but are showing up about a half hour later than me. Odd.
Portland International Airport
I woke up with a bit of jet-lag this morning. It was only about 5:30 local time. After lazying around for a few hours I got my things together and checked out. I walked well over a mile in the wrong direction to the Airport so I hitchhiked back. I was picked up by a lovely yet odd couple who I paid one banana for a ride. I'm sitting at gate D15 waiting for my 2:20 flight to Tokyo via airbus. There are pretty German-speaking ladies all over the place. I hope they're going to China. On board I'm going to consume a heroic amount of booze and pass out.
NW25 Japan to China
Flight number 4. Narita-Tokyo to Shanghai. 10 hours 26 minutes, zero German girls. I met an old man named Jim. Great guy. He got nervous when we approached Japan. He told me he was a bomber in World War II and even though he'd been to Japan a thousand times he still gets weird when he flies over the bay. Met a cool Costa Rican couple however I biffed on my Spanish and made a fool of myself. Where are those German girls? 1883 km to go.
Shanghai -> Beijing
I'm sitting on my bunk on board a train from Shanghai to Beijing. I'm with Ian and Alan and a Chinese man who does not speak any English at all. Today is Thursday and we have been in China for a few days. This country is absolutely astonishing and quite difficult to describe with words. We arrived on Monday night and we were picked up at the airport by Robert. That night we didn't do too much however we woke up sometime before 6:00am ready to begin our adventure into Shanghai. Tuesday was absolutely insane. We were very successful at figuring out how to navigate such a crazy city with more than 20 million people. The day lasted about 12 hours. We explored all sorts of wonderful areas of Shanghai beginning with the Old Town. The Old Town is an area of Shanghai with elaborate buildings that were all build circa 1559. This was an instant favorite site to see because it is rich with culture and history. There were old women in the streets practicing Tai Chi with beautiful clothes and Tai Chi swords. There is a famous attraction in this part of town called Yu-Gardens where one can travel the extensive preserve of old buildings and natural beauty. We ate breakfast at a small restaurant closely resembling the ones you would find in old kung-fu movies or paintings in a Chinese restaurant in America. We were seated at a lovely table by a koi pond from which I recognized the Costa Rican couple I met on the plane. They were across the water on a zig-zag bridge. We explored People's Square which is very similar to Time Square in NYC. We also explored an area of Shanghai known as The Bund, which is a waterside promenade very similar to the Detroit River. The only difference is that this area is both much more beautiful and much more polluted. We met a man named Forrest who was the head of an art school I think. He lead an art exhibit right beneath the water at The Bund where student works were for sale. We saw all sorts of different market places in Shanghai some of which didn't seem to have ever been visited by Americans based on the looks we received. Chinese people seem to be very happy and friendly. They are very fast paced and the traffic is terrifying but the people are warm and welcoming. Some people try to rip you off but some give you an American discount and if you're good at bartering you just might get a great deal. Business is done on a calculator and if you disagree with the price just push divided by two they begin to walk away - you'll get that deal. We eventually masted the subway system and managed to figure out a way to travel cheaply from one end of Shanghai to the other. Shanghai is separated into two parts, PuDong (where Robert lives) and PuXi. Our first round in Shanghai was incredible and we managed to conquer jet-lag. We met a kung-fu master in the park who was jumping from rock to rock. Ian approached him and asked where he found his shoes and this would lead to a quick yet epic lesson and a run through downtown. I think our tiger style improved about 20 percent that day. He took us to a faraway part of town that we hadn't been to yet so we decided for the rest of the day we would travel to wherever we ended up without making any plans. This would prove to be a wonderful idea later and I'll get to that. We visited a really cool aquarium and an insect museum with a goat at the end (?) but the coolest part of the day was when we met these great girls, Kathy and Yun-Chi (Johnny 5). We later would find out that they were from a part of China close to Shaolin which solidified our need to visit the great temple after Beijing even though we already had previous arrangements to do otherwise. We have tickets to take us back to Shanghai and are hoping to trade them somehow but who knows. The girls were pretty cool. They spoke English very well and did not have too hard of a time understanding us. We talked for a while with them and they were very curious about America. We told them we were on our way to find a tea house and we invited them to come with us. Kathy called a friend back home who directed us to an awesome tea house at the top of a commercial building. We found ourselves in a very small room with the two girls and a cute traditionally dressed girl serving us. We were at a tea ceremony in which we were served 8 different kinds of tea included a type of Jasmine bulb which grew into a beautiful flower when you pour hot water on it. Everything was done in 3's as the Chinese are very superstitious about numbers. Kathy is really cute. She took pictures of us and she seemed really happy to be around us. After the tea house we went to a music store where Kathy helped me translate to a man who worked there. I found an instrument that I have always wanted. I'm not sure the name of it but I had to have it. I'll come back later. The girls too us to get some great dinner at this scary little restaurant and we were served an inside-out fish that was carved like a pineapple. I really enjoyed their company and I would love to see them again.
So after a couple of crazy days in Shanghai here I am on a train to Beijing with the two people I'd trust my life with. We'll do the tourist thing first, Forbidden City then Great wall and all that. I'd really like to see Shaolin but I doubt it will happen unless we really play our cards right. I should also mention that we got so see a few really nice temples in Shanghai where we lit incense and exchanged bows with friendly monks. Our train arrives tomorrow at about 7am.
Beijing -> Zhengzhou
Train is about to leave. Where do I begin? Shortly after I last put down the pen on the previous train ride I fell asleep. Me and Ian woke up at about the same time and left to wander the train around 2am. We met a woman named Jenny who was Chinese born but a resident of Dallas, Texas. She had with her two kids, Kevin and Jason. We told her of our Shaolin hopes and she told us that she was visiting a friend in Beijing who was a very good travel agent named Mr. Shur. Little did we know that they would later adopt us as if we were a family. We sold our tickets to Shanghai and canceled our hotel reservations completely on trust and left our fate in the hands of these very kind strangers. Jenny told us that she wanted to bring her kids to the Great Wall and the Summer Palace but she was afraid they would be abducted. She offered to drive us to these places and pay for our tickets if we'd help look after her children. We agreed considering that she was taking a bigger risk by trusting strangers with her kids. Mr. Shur booked a reservation for us at the Sunny Youth Hostel (highly recommended). We were very nervous about all this however over the next few days we would become very close with our new family. We checked in and they left for the day and we took a taxi to the Forbidden City. It was wonderful like imagined however quite humorous. A now infamous picture of Mao's face in Tienamin Square almost cost us dearly. Later that day we went to a bar simply called 'The Pub' and met a couple of gentlemen from Boston. I got wasted and began making an ass of myself. I went up onstage and played drunken sing-alongs on guitar. Our waitress named Wanda was looking for American lovin' and she couldn't get enough of us. I'd later ramble about how she grabbed my taint and shit all over the walls of the bathroom (it was really funny I think). I rolled a wagon wheel and broke a bottle. Wanda would eventually call our hotel about a million times but we never saw her again. She felt strangely according to ridiculously translated message from the hotel staff. The next day our new family took us to the Great Wall. It was absolutely humbling. My monkey skills gained us some attention from watchful Chinese eyes and we told people we were famous international soccer players. Many people wanted pictures with us. Afterwards we visited a mountain temple nearby that was very beautiful. We then stayed for a while in a local village where the people caught us a few fish and served a wonderful traditional Chinese meal. I was so happy. I don't think I have ever been as happy as I was in that village. Over the next few days we visited the Summer Palace, a famous ruin, the White Pagoda (where one could hear Wanda bangin' away in the distance) and many other Beijing sites. Beijing has treated us well and our adoptive family became very close to us. They took us to a Shaolin martial arts show and another traditional restaurant where we enjoyed a true feast. We went to an antique flea market with things for sale dating back to many hundred years old. Mr. Shur, who didn't speak any English, was probably the coolest human being I've ever met. He helped us so much and we really didn't have much money to repay him. We had a warm goodbye with our family and they departed. The next day was spent killing time and living out of backpacks. We ended up at a very shady train station. Here we are now onboard a train to a city near Shaolin. Being in this very cold top but left me feeling very safe even though only an hour ago I was scared for my life. Tomorrow we will be meeting up with a friend of Kathy's named Danny who will show us around the city of Zhengzhou and perhaps come with us to Shaolin. I am very happy right now and I feel so fortunate to have been kept in good company thus far. I love my friends Ian and Alan and I feel like this is the beginning of a lifetime of world travel with a perfect team.
*My journal ends there. I didn't document Zhengzhou or Shaolin but I feel like this bit of information was a good insight into our adventures and needed to be shared. One thing should be included however... the cryptic message from Wanda to our hotel room in Beijing.. here it is:
Hello, your friend made three phone call to you, room nobody has met listens, is you yesterday requests her to make the phone call to you but she to hit actually nobody today. She felt very strangely!
- Hotel Onstage
- Hotel Onstage
