Xian

The overnight train to Xi'an was an experience in and of itself. We shared a car with a Chinese couple who seemed to announce their every mundane action with a loud hack, cough, yawn, sigh, you name it! Despite these pronouncements, the train ride was quite soothing with the beautiful country landscape passing by...

In the 1970's, Xi'an became famous for the discovery of the First Emperor's underground army that dates back to 210 BC. It was said that he feared life after death for having killed so many people during his life.

Each soldier is unique. Some say that each soldier was modeled after a real person during that time. Since we couldn't get enough of these dudes, we stayed at a bed and breakfast apartment called the Warrior Apartments. This apartment was run by a local couple who placed these terracotta warriors everywhere including the shower, the walls, the supports for the bed, and there was even a warrior costume in the closet.

We also went to visit the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, a Buddhist pagoda built in the Tang Dynasty. The fountains there are noted to be even more impressive than the one in Vegas.Did you know that babies in China don't wear any underpants???
One of the highlights of the trip was seeing how to this day many Chinese farmers live in caves. These families have lived in caves built by their ancient ancestors and are literally furnished with an outside mud oven that funnels its heat to an enclosed space below their bed. The one we visited was open at both ends, freezing cold, lit by only 1 light bulb, but had a tv in it.

It just makes me wonder how we get so frustrated about the little things... At least we have underpants and a warm house.

The Great Wall

The Great Wall of China is old, extremely long, and unfortunately on that day was so cold that it snowed! Unlike most tourists, we decided to visit Mutianyu, the northern section of the Great Wall not because it was build in the mid 6th century but because of its scenic landscape, cable car ride to the top, and toboggan ride down.


The climb along the wall was steep at times and I'm surprised I didn't go into labor. What a story that would have made!

Drew being in top physical condition literally ran up well over a thousand steep uneven stairs to take a photo of the view from the top and ran back down in less than a 1/2 an hour.

Here's a photo of the longest toboggan ride I've ever been on. That was so much fun!

Food Glorious Food

We both love food! China proved to go above and beyond introducing us to new and exotic flavors.

We started off with a food tour by Hias Gourmet, a company only a few years old but has been featured in Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern . The owner, Adlyn, walked us around the hutongs near Houhai lake which was populated with swan boats and local Chinese men taking their daily swim. We tasted foods from roasted chestnut, chrysanthemum tea with rock sugar, 3 cup duck, beef wrapped in lotus leaf, perch, golden sand mushrooms, bing tang hu lu (aka candied fruit), delicious yogurt, and of course green tea while being told the history of hutongs and the modernization of Beijing. Here's us munching down on these colorful treats:

Beijing, also known as Peking, is famous for Peking Duck. If you've had this before in the states, it has a totally different flavor and leaness when prepared in its own country. We shared this dining experience with a another couple from Yokota, Sean and Ashley, at a New York Times 5 star rated restaurant called Da Dong. Lucky for us, Da Dong himself was sitting at the next table. We watched as various dishes of sushi shaded by a lone cherry blossom branch, chocolate bomb that literally exploded to reveal little sachets of even more chocolate, and tall sticks with cotton candy covered fruit paraded past us. It was definitely a memorable evening.

Our last delectable delight came late one night at a vegetarian restaurant called Pure Lotus. It was recommended by Adlyn and rated 5 stars by the New York Times. With my Adventist background, I thought I knew what good vegetarian food was like. However, this food was simply amazing. There was so many delicious flavors that I really must say it was better than meat. It was that good! The decor of the restaurant and presentation of the food also left you in a dream like state.

Beijing, China

As a last hoorah, Drew and I set off to the far east in early April. It was quite an adventure and not just because I was 36 weeks pregnant. Beijing was absolutely amazing with its exotic culture, bustling streets, savory flavors, and of course its long history spanning back thousands of years.

To become better acclimated, we stayed at the Double Happines Courtyard Hotel which was situated on a hutong (aka. an alley where courtyard style houses housed several Chinese families. These alleys often have local necessities such as bathrooms, showers, police stations, bakeries, and barber shop). This was what it looked like inside the hotel grounds.

Here's what it looked like inside our hotel room.

We toured so many famous sites. Here I am at the Forbidden City which was the Imperial Palace from the Ming to Qing Dynasty.

Drew is standing at the foot of the Temple of Heaven which is a Taoist temple where the emperors would make yearly sacrifices for a good harvest.

One of our favorite places was the Summer Palace which means Gardens of Nurtured Harmony.

It contains the longest corridor in the world measuring at 728 meters long.

The Lovers' Tree...

Tianamen Square which is known to be the largest square in the world and of course a reminder of the 1989 pro-democracy protest which we weren't encouraged to talk about. Luckily, my great grandfather immigrated to Hawaii before communism set in.

From old to new... China shows how modern and innovative they are with the 2008 Olympics. Here's the Bird's Nest:

The Water Cube:

Yes, it was that cold!!!

Spring is just around the corner

The plum blossoms are the first flowers that herald the beginning of spring in Japan. We were lucky enough to spend one of the warmer spring days outside enjoying all of the hues that only these little plum blossoms can bring.

The Japanese celebrate these short lived blossoms by picnicking beneath its branches with bento lunches and sake. When in Japan, do as the japanese do! Here I am laying back after a good lunch of onigirii (rice ball sandwichs) and some fruit.

Is the Belly Getting Bigger?

Here I am at 28 weeks. So far so good... During this time, I was still very active. I continued to work at Bunri Elementary teaching music while working out (ie. kick boxing, zumba, water aerobics) in my spare time. That all stopped after an episode of ligament pain. Oh my goodness... why didn't anyone tell me that it wasn't just the labor part of pregnancy that hurt?

The Belly

While Drew is away on TDY for the next few weeks, I (Candice) will do most of the blogging. As you probably can guess from our previous post, this pregnancy has affected both of our lives quite a bit. Here's a quick update: I am currently feeling great in the midst of the second trimester, surpassing the first trimester's infamous bought of morning sickness. However, I've noticed a big change in my memory (sorry if I forget your name) and extreme clumsiness (I've already broken several glasses and my glass blender!). The belly is now getting bigger, allowing me to get good use out of the Christmas gifts of maternity clothes. Despite these delightful quirks, our little Sprout at 22 weeks is suppose to be as big as a spaghetti squash weighing about 1 pound. She's kicking quite a bit! Here's what I look like:

2 Becomes 3

It's been a while since our last blog and here's why:

This is one of our first photos of our little baby girl at the tender age of 20 weeks. Her prenatal name is 'Sprout'.

Rad!!!

Nikko

Happy New Year! Well back in October, we went to Nikko with two other couples. It is a scenic town in the mountains a few hours drive from our house. It's known for its cool weather, fall colors, shrines, and temples. These photos from my camera give a nice summary of our trip.

The river right by our bed & breakfast. It had a private sauna with windows overlooking the river.


Several stone lanterns in front of a shrine.


The tallest pagoda in Nikko.


The famous "Here no evil, speak no evil, see no evil" monkeys carved into a shrine.


Mimicry at it's best.


Another shrine (or maybe it's a temple?). You can see the tall cedars as well.


In a Japanese garden. The Japanese maples produce the most unbelievably red leaves.


Orange, green, yellow...


The view from an old emperor's summer home.


An abandoned bus, which is a rare site in Japan as they keep things really clean.


Buddas galore. Looks like they're ready for some ribs with all their bibs.


A waterfall in the mountains. The trees here already lost all their leaves.


A bridge that is a union of two serpents that allowed a priest to cross the river.


The gingko. The best yellow of all the trees.


A Japanese garden. They often have a stone water container for cleansing one's hands. I like the chain link rain gutter.