Back home

coming home was a pain, first off trying to get a seat booked on the long haul flight back seemed impossible. China Southern Airlines who run the flight under partnership with KLM would not book seats for us and said on the phone it had nothing to do with them and we should contact KLM even though on my ticket it says contact China Southern Airlines, the lying bastards and this is just the beginning. On the day we left we got to Beijing on time and then had to locate the check in desk, even though we were there early we were told all the other passangers had booked their seats already...wait a minute, didnt they tell us earlier they couldnt prebook seats, next they said they could not give us a boarding pass for the Amsterdam to Dublin flight which was a first and also meant that we would have to find the check in desk once we touched down in Amsterdam which I was worried about as it was tight enough time wise, I think we only had an hour and a half to get on our next plane. While waiting for our flight an announcment that our plane would be delayed by 20 mins came, which started a panic 45 mins later and still no plane, people were pissed and started looking for staff to complain to, 1 hour and a half later and I knew we had missed our connecting flight. We finally boarded the plane and waited around for another hour and a half before taking off on our 10 hour journey to Amsterdam.

Got there went to the transfare desk and was told we had been rebook for 9:00 the next morning and with no compensaton or hotel or even food vouchers as KLM said the flight was run by China Southern Airlines and they dont compensate, I told the girl as they are a partnership it should fall on them as a shared responsibility and we should not be left stranded for the night, the fuckes just dont care.

Their partnership seems just a convenient way for them to blame each other if something goes wrong, I wont be using them again and would suggest other people avoid them. So had to sleep on airport benches and it was no fun at all. Finally got home the next morning after 36 hours of travel hell. Thanks KLM and China Southern Airlines.

almost done 14.07.11

Just a day or two left here, I am more or less recovered from the bug I picked up, It totally turned me off all Chinese food and I ended up losing 5kg. We met another of DanDan's Chinese Friends from Ireland who was also back to see her family, went to Korean Restaurant and DanDan ordered dog, asked Leon if he wanted any and he jumped at the chance, I have always told Leon that meat came from animals so for him this is just another animal.

A lot of meeting the family again and going out to restaurants, but as I said I was totally not in the mood to eat, so for me it was go to this place that I dont want to go and pretend to eat some of it to keep the hosts happy, and all the men smoking is disgusting, what the hell happened to the Ban that they were to introduce, maybe its here and they just dont want to follow it. Look here is a sign.

Yes its like Ireland not too long ago but we have moved on and so should China. Lung cancer is the biggest killer here and I can see why.

I also found another "Irish" food in one of these places. Ireland burn Bacteria.

DanDan also got here haircut.

A few bits and bobs

I have been sick for the last few days, fever and coughing, still not fully better so this will be a summery of the past few days.
on Saturday we went to dog market, lots of Dogs, a good few large Malamutes all kept in tiny cages, lots of northern breeds, white Pomeranians and all much cheaper than what you would pay in Ireland. A Chow Chow would have cost only 200 euro. Lots of Dog equitment also which was our reason fro going, we got 2 very strong short leads, some brushes and a few toys, very cheap.

Next day we visited one of Dan Dan's more wealthy relatives, they own a 2 story apartment with access to a private roof garden and each floor being about the same size as most Irish houses. They cooked BBQ, but that morning Dan Dan was ill and throwing up, something that effected Leon latter that day. I was still ok at this stage, the two old people in the house proudly showed off what they had been grown, cucumbers...tomatoes..and HASH, this seemed to be the one they where most proud of and they kept asking me did I know what it was.

Next day I started to also feel ill and stayed indoors for most of the time, smells really bother me when I am sick also, painting in the apartment over us and rat poison laid down outside the apartment all dont help. Dan Dan headed to Wai Jie on her own and observed some of the worst elements here all in the one day, Early she got the Bus and a Woman on the Bus started shouting at the guy behind her saying he bumped into her, you can usually win a battle of saving face if you can out with the other person and so instead of just saying sorry the guy said things like "oh, dont you think you are so beautiful that all the guys here would want to bump into you just to be touch by your beauty" and things like that. Later when shopping, Dan Dan lifted a curtain in one of the stalls and was shouted at by the woman who was there saying "go away, this is not a public road if you are not going to buy a curtain then go way" Dan Dan told her that she was looking to buy a curtain but it wouldn't be from her. Later again a woman told Dan Dan if her sister(Zhe Jie) was not with her than she could have ripped her off a few hundred yuan. Lastly trying to get a Taxi home, The car already has someone inside and asks Dan Dan does she want to get on also, which of coarse she said no, this is the new thing here, Taxis think they are so in demand that they can pick up multiple customers and make double the money, The other customer maybe also unhappy with this drivers attitude got out of the cab and when Dan Dan asked the driver could she get on he said "No Way".

Yesterday went to spice market and thats about it.

Busy Day 30.06.11

Got up early as today (6.30) as we were going to visit the Royal sea world the next city over, Fu Xun. Got Taxi which took a very long time to reach the bus station, traffic was real bad. Got to the station and I noticed a MacDonald close by, didnt have time for that, so we got our tickets and hopped on the Bus, 200 yuan each for 3 doors at the Sea world. It would take one hour to get there from Shen Yang. On the way I passed something that looked like a nuclear power plant but I think it was waste disposal.

We arrived and straight away all the peddelers came over saying we should buy inflatable rings and goggles, Everyone else in our group was buying them but I refused and only got Leon one but I did have to carry it around with me the whole time. Headed in and the was a little problem getting trough the main gate, our tour guide was new and only finding her feet, a young 17 year old perky girl, truth be told she didnt really know what she was doing. There were 9 people in our group and once passed the front gate we were left to our own devices.

Place was big but not as big as Lao Hu Tan in Da Lian. We headed into the first place which was the sea life world. Its just the usual; dark place, lots of fish a few seals, a polar bear and a few Dolphins. Speaking of Dolphins they did have the dolphin show which is a big part of all these places, unfortunately it is all based on the American model so it was nothing we had not seen before.

After the sea life center we headed to the fake indoor beach. I was impressed by its size and for what it was, it worked. Its was warm, there was sand and waves and lots of girls in bikinis(sorry, no pictures of this one) but not too many lookers. Leon had a great time swimming. Finished there and tried to enter the next area but was stopped and told we cant use our tickets any more, DanDan got angry and called the girl to find out what was wrong, she said oh come outside and we can talk about it, we knew full well that if we leave they wont let us back in so refused. So we felt ripped off. They counted the main entrance as a door, os our ticket was punched 3 times even though we only went to 2 attractions. No good. I told the manager of the park that I will tell everyone on line not to come.

We headed back to ShenYang, very hot as usual. Got off bus and headed to the MacDonald's we saw earlier, Time for some burger, I ordered the biggest burger they had and Surprise Suprise, They had a diet drink available, progress. Burger tasted the same, chips tasted the same......but wait, the diet coke had a strange smell of apples from it and tasted totally different, sigh...oh well almost there. KFC never let you modify any orders but MacDonald do, so MacDonald for the win here.

After food we went to Da Jia Ting again as I wanted to buy the leather dog lead I had seen before, played lots of games with Leon, got the lead for 160 yuan(about 16 euro)

and Leon made a cake.

Chicken in a Bucket 29.06.11

DanDan's Mother was given a bird that one of the old women that lived in the Building complex had caught and felt it would be fun for Leon, it had a string tied around its leg to prevent it from flying away.

Leon was not too interested and we agreed to let it fly away, After that we headed out looking for a travel club my wife had heard about in the area as she wanted to go to the Royal Sea World in Fu Xun, no luck but I did see a Chicken in a bucket and it wasn't even KFC.

Found a small place that had He Fan just across from our Building complex.

Went to visit DanDans Lao Gu, she had invited us and we had eaten Yang Rou Chuan Er with her family before, Its where Leon got a taste for it. She had moved house and the new place was very modern and reminded me of some Irish developments I had seen right down to the shamrocks.

It was a while before the charcole was ready for the meat and there sure was a lot of meat. Er Gu arrived with her grand child, which was a happy little 16 month boy, he could walk and would get into everything and when his nanny tried to stop him he would throw a tantrum but over all he did not go near the fire and would laugh at everything.

After food it was getting late and Lao Gu's Daughter and her husband said they would bring Leon to somewhere he could play games, Chinese is a very vague language and you never get the full picture so We had no idea about where we where going. We took a double decker bus which was a first for me in China. Even though it was getting dark outside the bus keeps its inside lights off to save electricity and save money. I also found a very big IKEA while I passed it on the bus.

We ended up in a Da Jia Ting on the other side of the city in a place called xi tie. Leon went fishing and we ended to night in KFC eating Ice Cream untill mosquitoes started falling from the air conditioning, then we got the hell out of there.

Another night Market 28.06.11

Not much to report, I lost my connection with the outside world for a time in the morning because paypal reported my subscription to Surfbounder as fraud and got them to return my money so I had to get that sorted. Huang Yu arrived with baby and when he found out I had access to youtube he asked did I have anything to show him that was banned here, Not really, Tiananmen guy dancing around a tank and thats about it. Boring really.

We went to Beihang, Ning Shan Lu night Market, much better than the one close to our house, it stretched to whole length of the road which was very long. The girls are also better here as they all wear the latest fashion and  keep themselves looking well. The whole street it self was falling apart, cracks every where and the soil where the trees were planted appears to have caved in, as in the trees were sinking. This could be to do with the underground tunnel that was dug for the subway, lets just say it was far from safe. DanDan's old house is on this road and I know the area well so we went to an old spot to grab some Chuan er, its alittle different now as the let you select your own skewer and then they cook them for you. Headed home in a Taxi for 10 yuan.

Carrefour 27.06.11

Went to Carrefour (The French Chain Shopping Mall) today, wanted to buy a Pressure cooker for to bring back to Ireland, while there I was amused by how much power to Old guy washing the floor had, As he headed in to a crowd and Shouted LAI,LAI,LAI! at the top of his lungs and the crowd just despairsed, he done this several times and I wish I had thought about recording it. I always like the displays in the Chinese Markets, lots of Cookies and meats as well as Water tanks full of fish. What I dont like is the places that want you to buy one item in one part of the store and another somewhere else, its just not convenient and it changes from store to store.

I picked up a Teresa Tang(Deng Li Jun) DVD with more than 99 songs, very happy with this as she was one of the greatest Female singers of her time. Finished our shopping in KFC, Annoying that fastfood outlets dont have diet drinks here as there are a lot of fatties and most seem to be patrons of these said fast food joints. The myth that all Chinese are thin is truly coming to an end, now all we have to do is convince the Chinese themselves.

Was munching on a cookie after we got home and heard a crack, one of my teeth at the back was not in good condition anyway but it had broke and twisted in, so I could feel it but not get at it. Finally managed to pull out the broken part without too much pain.

DanDan and her mum are making Jiaozi in the kitchen so guess I know what will be for dinner.

Leon Meets a new friend 26.06.11

Had BaoZi for Breakfast, Taste great. A few Chinese still dont trust BaoZi after hearing about people mixing chemicals into the bread to keep it fresh for longer. The plan today is to head to Wang Feng's home so Leon could play with his son Shuai Shuai. Shuai Shuai is a year older than Leon.

As usual the Chinese love nothing more than Children preforming and straight away Shuai Shuai's Nanny is calling  him over to show off his English and Math skills and then pointing out that Leon cant speak Chinese, what I didnt tell them was that Leon could speak alot more Chinese than Shuai Shuai could speak English. The 2 boys got one great as soon as the action figures were busted out, Ultraman is universal it seems. Nice people anyway. We went for dinner in a BBQ place and had Yang Rou Chuan Er. Actually Leon ate almost all the Yang Rou Chuan Er it surprised us all as he is usuall a fussy eater.

Later that day had a downpour, So myself and Leon headed out to the shops and bought some western food.

Night Market 25.06.11

So we found the night Market, it was in the same place as the Morning market and was nowhere near as busy, in ShenYang there is the 6 lane road and that for Cars, then there is the bicycle land which is clearly marked and is where our footpath would be, and that is for bikes and Mopeds, and the there is...wait a minute, there are no footpaths here. It seems that China does not have regular peoples interests at heart. It is a status thing here if you have a car, Then you are a somebody and all must clear the way in front of your mighty beast(quite the opposite to Ireland) then comes the cheaper forms of transport and then you come in at the bottom, having to dodge bikes and debris in your way to get anywhere, its just a way of life here and nobody cares one way or the other but pedestrians are really getting the short end of the stick and even when you find a crossing with a green light for prople to cross it still seems cars are allowed make left hand turns so its almost as dangerous as if there was no lights at all, this is what I have know for years but it is good I can post my observations.

The Market is located along a very long street which ends ar BeiLing(Northern Tomb) Park.

Leon played some machines outside a supermarket and I spotted a mongrel harassing some Pomeranians walking by its owners stall.

We picked up a pancake very like crepes but I have always prefared the Chinese version to the French. We got Leon a good Pair of Skates for a tenner and then headed into the Park for some fresh air, as it was getting dark and mosquitoes were litually bouncing off our skin(they never bite me) we didnt stay for long but did see some lights high in the sky, very UFO like, it was a triangular Kite, with changing lights. I am sure if I bought one and took it back to Ireland with me I could make the news papers with UFO sightings. We exited trough the front gate where there is always skipping and dancing and watched for a bit before heading home.

Mario Party 24.06.11

Today was my birthday, got up before the other 2, DanDans mother made some breakfast and eventually Leon and DanDan crawled out of bed. DanDan was still feeling sick so went to get a drip just outside the building complex. Was waiting for Cake to be delivered when a knock on the door presented a neighbour whos son had just come back from Ireland, he was with her and when I asked can he speak English he replied "yi dian"(a little) which was strange as you would think someone who had studied English abroad would be more willing to show off anyway we didnt speak a word of English until they said they may come back later and the guy said "see you later". After a few hours DanDan and her mother got home and DanDan showed me where they inserted the drip and where the also failed to insert it, her had looked like a pin cushion.

Later we left Leon at home and headed to Lao Da to try and buy some computer bits'n'bobs, first 2 sellers where looking for 50 yuan each for 2 bog standard computer mice, we eventually found someone that didnt have their head in the clouds and was willing to sell at 25 each. We also pick up a pair of Headphones.
Decided to walk to BeiHang as it was not too far from Lao Da. We passed a sign for 'Ma Jia Shao Mai'

which confused the hell out of us as the sign was hugh but everyshop under it told us its not here. We found it eventually on the 2nd floor of Bank of China, WTF. Thats the last place I would have looked. In fairness the sign did say something like that but we missed it at first.Went to the underground shopping area because it was so hot topside so decided to walk under ground to reach BeiHang. All the stuff is stupidly more expensive than it needs to be especially since shops selling the same stuff cheaper were just upstairs. Picked up a Mario Figure for Leon. DanDans Mother had booked the place for the party but getting there would prove harder than we thought, 4 o'clock and all the Taxis where full, every single one, so we walked to a more busy street, same deal but this time even taxis that had no passengers were passing us by, If we saw someone get off a cab we would run to ask the driver if he was working and he would say "Im going home now" we were so pissed off as we had to get to the restaurant by 5pm. So after 45mins we gave up and walked to the top of the road and got a bus, So hot and humid. Got to mthe party and met up with a Chinese guy we knew from Ireland Liu Peng, he was back in ShenYang after 10 years in Ireland. We headed to the room but the Taxi situation just ruined the whole day, turns out that in Shen Yang Taxis finish their morning shift at 5 and go home and then evening Taxi drivers start their shift at 5pm, just stupid. Cake was ok, KTV was bad and old and despite the guests it was no Mario Party.

Huang Yu's Home 23.06.11

Morning is wet and rainy so perfect for us Irish, My self and Leon went on a walk by ourselves as DanDan was feeling ill, she ended up going to the little hospital to get a drip. We looked around and ended up in a ZhongXing shopping center as Leon wanted some sweets and I wanted some Pepsi. Got home and DanDan was feeling better so we headed off to Huang Yu's home.

He said he would order the Megadrive flash card I was after off of TaoBao and invited us to dinner at Europar western restaurant for some Pizza and later some KTV. Tommorrow is my Birthday and we also booked a cake for it so time for bed.

Underground? 21.06.11

Went shopping in Bei Hang(northern Market) and I was looking forward to seeing the new subway in action, unfortunately it wasnt running, in fact I didnt even see any tracks. Makes me think maybe it was just an underground shopping area that was being build and not a transit system, well someone said it will be running by the end of the year so who knows. Bei Hang is the main market area of Shen Yang, If you want to get clothes at a bargin price this is the place to go. Really hot day so myself and Leon headed to KFC while DanDan tried to get my Mobile Phone fixed. Chinese Resturants are easy to order in, the names of dishes rarely change but Chinese KFC is a little harder, like their English speaking outlets the have special names for everything and as my reading of character is limited I had to just ask for what I thought it should be, miraculously  I managed to order chicken nuggets for Leon which is exactly what he wanted and got myself a chicken burger, Perfect. I saw some other foreign people at a food court at the back of the underground area, they had the same bewildered look of being lost that I have noticed on all the foreigners I see in China, They just need to relax and feel comfortable with the experience. We ended the day with Leon getting a home haircut.