OK, so yesterday I left off with the tea house. Once we finished there Herry and I took a cab to the area near Lama Temple. By this time we were getting hungry so we stopped for lunch first. I was glad to have him with me seeing as how I don't speak Chinese and all.
This was pork and vegetables with lots of spices and a ton of cilantro, which I love and rarely get in Japan, served over a flame. So delicious!
As a side we ordered these peas which were sautéed in garlic and butter. Yum!
After lunch we headed into the temple. These kinds of statues were everywhere, for protection, according to Herry.
This is the entry to the hall with the world's largest Buddha statue. It is 26 meters tall and was carved from a single piece of white sandalwood which was brought to China from somewhere in Africa. Again, Herry was full of information! Sadly, photos weren't allowed inside the halls :( As you can see from this sign:
At first I had no idea what this meant, but the last 2 characters stand for "film" and aren't identical to the Japanese character, but similar.
After the temple tour Herry took me to a traditional Chinese doctor.
This was the acupuncture chart on the wall. I didn't have any done!
First they took me to a room and gave me a cup of tea and prepared a bucket of warm water to soak my feet. Then, a middle aged Chinese man, fluent in English, came into the room and told me a bit about Chinese medicine. Next, a young guy came in to give me a foot massage. Finally an old doctor and his assistant, who also translated for him, came in to do my evaluation, which is completely free. He checked my pulse on my wrist, asked to see my tongue, looked at my hands and nails and started telling me what's wrong with me and he was pretty accurate! Afterwards he prescribed some natural herbs and they wanted me to buy them to cure my ailments. However, according to his diagnosis my problems all stem from my weight so I figured I can lower that on my own without paying $200 plus for their pills!
After the foot massage was finished Herry took me to the pearl market where his wife "Sofie" works. There's a huge, very popular pearl market in Beijing that's in all the tour books. His wife works at the newer, smaller one located just behind it. Supposedly since all the tourists go to the one in the books it's a lot more expensive! His wife was adorable!
Here she is stringing some pearls for me. I bought quite a bit of stuff there =)
After the market we got a cab and I paid Herry for the day. He rode the cab part of the way to the subway station and told them where to take me. I got his card and email address and if anyone goes to Beijing and would like a tour guide, I'd definitely recommend him!
Christy was already home from work when I arrived and we were both pretty hungry. We walked down to a mall called Europlaza and had dinner at a place called the Blue Frog. The area where she lives is about 70% foreigners and there lots of bratty kids running around the restaurant!
My dinner: a burger with huge onion rings on top covered in barbecue sauce. Luckily Christy helped me eat the fries! That night we crashed pretty early. I'd had a long day and we had a full day ahead on Saturday, which I'll continue with tomorrow!
Now for what else is going on with me...
It took me awhile to get back to it after going to China then returning here to a week of holidays, but I finally started my C25K program again! Before China I'd done through week 3 day 2. I did day 3 on Saturday and today I did week 4 day 1. For the first time since starting the program, I had to run more than I had to walk! All together I ran 16 minutes...that is a huge deal for me! I also restarted the Glamour Magazine Body by Glamour program. I like this program a lot! I did it for a few weeks while in Texas, but then when I came back here lost track. It gives you eating tips, workout plans and a place to track your food. Yesterday I did the strength workout while working in 5 minute stretches of cardio 3 times. I started my Friday weigh ins again too and last week I hadn't lost any weight since the weigh in before back around April 16, but I was pleasantly surprised to see I also hadn't gained any weight. I figure this is quite an accomplishment considering I hadn't worked out really in 2 full weeks!
And my final news for today is: I got a job! OK so I don't start until late this month or maybe June, but I've been offered the job. I'll be assisting at an international kindergarten (English immersion) here in Kagoshima. I went for an interview today and it seems really cool. It's a lot more like an American kindergarten than a Japanese school, which I think I'll enjoy a lot! I'm sure I'll write more about the school and the job once I get started. The best part is they'll sponsor a work visa for me so I won't have to leave Japan every 3 months, nor do Koichi and I have to rush to get married just so I can stay!
And that, my friends, is all I've got for today. Time to get dinner started and get in a little Wii action before Koichi comes home. Have a great day!
All of the boards were written in 4 languages. If I remember correctly, they were (from R-L) Tibetan, Chinese, Mongolian and Manchurian (a now nearly if not entirely extinct language).
Lama Temple is a Tibetan temple so there were some Tibetan monks there. This particular guy kept blessing people and throwing silk scarf like things up over the statues for them.
After the temple tour Herry took me to a traditional Chinese doctor.
First they took me to a room and gave me a cup of tea and prepared a bucket of warm water to soak my feet. Then, a middle aged Chinese man, fluent in English, came into the room and told me a bit about Chinese medicine. Next, a young guy came in to give me a foot massage. Finally an old doctor and his assistant, who also translated for him, came in to do my evaluation, which is completely free. He checked my pulse on my wrist, asked to see my tongue, looked at my hands and nails and started telling me what's wrong with me and he was pretty accurate! Afterwards he prescribed some natural herbs and they wanted me to buy them to cure my ailments. However, according to his diagnosis my problems all stem from my weight so I figured I can lower that on my own without paying $200 plus for their pills!
After the foot massage was finished Herry took me to the pearl market where his wife "Sofie" works. There's a huge, very popular pearl market in Beijing that's in all the tour books. His wife works at the newer, smaller one located just behind it. Supposedly since all the tourists go to the one in the books it's a lot more expensive! His wife was adorable!
After the market we got a cab and I paid Herry for the day. He rode the cab part of the way to the subway station and told them where to take me. I got his card and email address and if anyone goes to Beijing and would like a tour guide, I'd definitely recommend him!
Christy was already home from work when I arrived and we were both pretty hungry. We walked down to a mall called Europlaza and had dinner at a place called the Blue Frog. The area where she lives is about 70% foreigners and there lots of bratty kids running around the restaurant!
Now for what else is going on with me...
It took me awhile to get back to it after going to China then returning here to a week of holidays, but I finally started my C25K program again! Before China I'd done through week 3 day 2. I did day 3 on Saturday and today I did week 4 day 1. For the first time since starting the program, I had to run more than I had to walk! All together I ran 16 minutes...that is a huge deal for me! I also restarted the Glamour Magazine Body by Glamour program. I like this program a lot! I did it for a few weeks while in Texas, but then when I came back here lost track. It gives you eating tips, workout plans and a place to track your food. Yesterday I did the strength workout while working in 5 minute stretches of cardio 3 times. I started my Friday weigh ins again too and last week I hadn't lost any weight since the weigh in before back around April 16, but I was pleasantly surprised to see I also hadn't gained any weight. I figure this is quite an accomplishment considering I hadn't worked out really in 2 full weeks!
And my final news for today is: I got a job! OK so I don't start until late this month or maybe June, but I've been offered the job. I'll be assisting at an international kindergarten (English immersion) here in Kagoshima. I went for an interview today and it seems really cool. It's a lot more like an American kindergarten than a Japanese school, which I think I'll enjoy a lot! I'm sure I'll write more about the school and the job once I get started. The best part is they'll sponsor a work visa for me so I won't have to leave Japan every 3 months, nor do Koichi and I have to rush to get married just so I can stay!
And that, my friends, is all I've got for today. Time to get dinner started and get in a little Wii action before Koichi comes home. Have a great day!
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