Japan- Tokyoooooo Drift!

27/12

An early get up was had because of our 9:45 train to Busan. It was a (300 km/h) fast train through lush Korean countryside. In Busan it was straight off the train and direct to the ferry port for 3 hour hydrofoil out of Busan Port to Fukuoka past beautiful Korean and Japanese islands as the sun set. Off the boat we found our hostel in Fukuoka, walking with mum in tow. As we arrrived and after completing mums hostel initiation  (compulsory for all first time hostel users) we headed out to dinner to the most famous ramen shop in Fukuoka, Ippudo. We smashed down a bowl of ramen, free salad, a dozen gyoza and some froffs. But our initial gyoza order was forgotten so in traditional Japanese customer service styles we were given repeated low bowing and a second round of froffs for free- huge win!!! After dinner, we then headed back to the train station to arrange our onward travel for the next day; our shinkansen to Tokyo.

28/12

With mum on the trip, early wake ups were compulsory so we were up and off pretty early to complete our quick sightseeing tour of Fukuoka. Smashing out a few temples in not very long left us ready to board our 6 hour shinkansen to Tokyo. Eating and sleeping our way through the journey we soon arrived at Tokyo station but without my Shinkansen ticket (seen holding in the above picture). This made it difficult to navigate the exit gate which was not ideal in the middle of peak hour. 3 of us with our big bags trying to embark and disembark the packed trains was an even more interesting sight. Our navigation on and off Tokyo's metro was achieved only with the help of some drunk Japanese businessmen. But after successfull navigating the busy trains we found our hostel in Tokyo, grabbed dinner and settled in to our new city. 

29/12

Our first full day n the new city meant an early start and some early sightseeing. But before that we demanded breakfast, and after quickly consulting the lonely planet we headed for a hawaiian burger fast food chain. Beers and burgers at 11 am was a good start to the day. Then it was off to the imperial palace to join the weekly running and walking groups around the palace. From the palace we headed to ginza for some shopping (megans favourite shop itoya and various department stores) and later to meet up with Jeremy and Yoko, Megan's brother and sister in law. With hunger setting in Yoko found an izakaya where she ordered up a storm and we made our way home.

30/12

Up early, this time by my request, we all made our way out of the city centre and to the Keio Velodrome to check out some world famous Japanese keirin racing. After the hour and a half journey we paid our 50 cent entry and watched 3 races along with hundreds of japanese people. At the gate we also had the chance to win some prizes in the merchandise lucky dip. After being unsuccessful on our first attempt, the competitive side of Mum emerged- she got every 50 yen coin in her wallet, exited the gate, paid her entry back in and received a ticket for the lucky dip. Despite more than 10 attempts, we only left with multiple packets of rice snacks. Post- keirin we made our way to Harajuku to walk the streets and make some purchases. And as it started to bucket down we decided to walk to Shibuya (not a great choice as we ended up looking like drowned rats)to check out Shibuyas shopping and super intersection before heading home.

31/12

First stop on todays agenda was the Monocle cafe for awesome coffee and cake. With caffeine in our veins, we ventured to Akihabara electric town via a small local shrine. The highlight of Akihabara was the Sega building where the male urinals were equipped with a pissing game. The premise of the game was to keep your stream going for as long as possible so that you could put out a fire engulfing the little Sega man's house- fun times! Being new years eve I thought it might be good afternoon to nap so headed back to the hostel while mum and Megs went to do some more shopping. When they got home we all got read and headed off to meet the girls, Mil, Anna, Lucy and Alex as well as Jeremy and Yoko for Izakaya dinner. With Yoko again delivering on restaurant choice we were soon sat down at an izakaya where we paid 8 dollar for 2 hours of drinking. Making use of the offer everyone indulged in their drink of choice. Then Jeremy took the 8 dollars to a whole 'nother level ordering sake for the table and encouraging me to keep going. In light of the sake madness, Mum decided to head home while the rest of us made a beeline for the ageha bus stop. While waiting for the bus we all had a  beer and before long we were on the bus and in the line to ageha.  As we entered it was craziness, witht he main room of 200 people packed to the rafters with free pole dancers and the dj playing bangers a great time was had by all. 

01/01

Although hungover Megan and I mustered the energy tomake the most of the last full day in tokyo and joined mum on a journey to asakusa temple with the locals on their new years day holiday. Oure efforts soon paid off as we were rewarded with an ice cream sandwich for breakfast. Then after waiting in a long line we threw money in a box for good luck, got soba for a snack then hunted down yoshinoya beef bowls for lunch,. With mum departing that evening we ensure that she was on the corret train to the airport before megan and I jumped onto a different train and made our way to an airport hotel for the night. The hotel suggested that while we were in Narita we should go to a traditional okonomiyaki restaurant- which was amazing. Then it was a final quick dose of japanese game shows before bed.

02/01

Today was moving day so we up about, down at breakfast, packed and then on the free shuttle making our way to the airport. Arriving at the airport with plenty of time to spare we got some strabucks (using our yen poo change on the way) then checked in. Unsure of China Southerns meal policy we grabbed some lunch which included katsu curry land mcdonald and were entertained by the famous new year ekiden relay and college soccer final. But most significant in all this was that this was the end of No Longer Anchored 2012/13- I was going home!

South Korea- Somewhere far along the road he found his Seoul..

17/12

On an early morning China Air flight from Beijing I wasnt in the most talkative of moods. However I still made a friend in Kim, a Korean Uni student returning to Seoul for the holidays after another semester at American college. But off the plane I was left to my own devices and made my way to Seoul Base Camp, the only hostel in Seoul. After dropping my bags I went out to explore the surrounding Hongdae district. But it wasnt long before I detected an Australian accent. My fellow Australian was Yeti, a fellow melburnian who was heading out the door to go shopping in Seoul's famous shopping district. I got on board the shoppo expedition in the hope that this expedition would include food. first stop was fried chicken and beer- a korean favourite. Second was shopping. Third was more food. And last was Shisha before we both crashed.

18/12

After a crazy few days a sleep in was well deserved. But this was all at a cost as the free waffle breakfast was missed! But breakfast could wait as today was the first day of solo travelling- a new and exciting experience- where I was left to my own devices. I needed food though so entering Hongdae I decided I need a break from rice and noodles and so sought out some western food. Coming across a funky falafel shop was ideal. Then it was off exploring the awesome fashion and culture of the happening university district . As the eveining chill started to set in I headed back to the hostel to warm up and put some more clothes on- ready for dinner. On the recommendation of the hostel, I headed to a philly cheese steak restaurant 5 mins walk through the freezing wind.  Satisfied by my delicious philly cheese steak I headed back to the hostel with a beer to decided tomorrows agenda.

19/12

I swore to myself that today I would will myself out of bed and up to the rooftop for my free waffle breakfast . And that I did; indulging in mutiple waffles with maple syrup on the hostel's rooftop overlooking the Hongik University district. Then it was time to head back downstairs to pack my bags and get ready for check out. As I finished I set out of the hostel on way to the Korean War Museum and Memorial . The Museum was truly amazing as it gave a day by day interactive account of the Korean War- a war which I knew nothing about. More broadly it also explains the history which has led to the tensions we see between North Korea and South Korea today. After several hours of knowledge building at the museum I started my walk back to the closest metro station in Itaewon, the location of the US Army Base for 40 years. The US influence is more obvious than I first thought with shops selling college bomber jackets, basketball tops, snapbacks as well as American food in the form of burgers, wraps, fries etc. But going past this Americna facade there is still a deeply Korean feel. Searching for this authentic Korean in Itaewon I wandered through the suburbs back alleys to find a bowl of Korean dumpling soup. Then it was time to head back to the hostel to grab my gear and make the journey to Mums hotel in Myeongdong where I was able to check in and make the most of some luxury we had not seen since Tashkent (where we splurged on a hotel). Kicking it on a soft, and comfortable bed watching cable was a great way to spend the afternoon before I again rugged up and made the journey to the airport to pick up Mumsy and deliver her safely back to the hotel. On arrival and in need of food, we headed to the seven eleven for a couple of Korean onigiri before we both hit the sack exhausted!

20/12

Today, Mum was keen to explore the city in which she'd just arrived. Additionally we decided we needed to organise some activities for the week ahead- one of which included the Temple Stay program. First was  an explore of  Myeong Dong before we moved through the Town Hall district and to the Gyeongbokgung palace. Arriving at the palace we both agreed it was time for a coffee and cake. Finishing our morning tea we  headed back to the palace in time for the hourly changing of the guard procession. After the procession we were allowed to enter the palace to explore the numerous temples in the grounds. After covering the whole site we decided we would head down to Insadong and to the Temple Stay Information Centre to work out our plan of action. But not only did Insadong provide us with information but also hundreds of Korean arts, craft and clothing stores which amused Mum for a good couple of hours. The cold of Seoul's twilight hours soon set in so we retreated back to the hotel to work our our plan of action for the next few days. Today was also the day that Megan would arrive into Seoul from her 32 hours journey from Lima. Avoiding accusations of preferential treatement I packed my bags and set out for the journey out to the airport at Incheon. Arriving with plenty of time to spare I sussed out the various airport vendors, made use of the airport free wifi  and waited. After a couple of hours Megan finally emerged informing me that the delay had been a result of a lost bag. With Megan bagless it proved much easier to get back to the hotel.

Seondaemun Prison - not nice things happened there!

21/12

On Megan's first day, we woke up grabbed some brekky, packed our stuff and then set off out the hotel doors to move to our new accommodation, the Gain Hanok Guesthouse. A minute out the door and we were confronted with snow- the first for the girls! It was heavy but we persisted down to the metro and then out of our stop and up the road to navigate the Hanok district and find our guesthouse. The heavy snow, our even heavier bags and the steep terrain of the district made for a difficult exploration but we eventually got there. We settled into our rooms and then headed off to show Mum and Megan the Hongik University district. First stop was the Seoul Base Hostel, where I had stayed for my first 2 nights in Seoul. Then it was down to the Jeoldusan Martys Memorial and Missionary cemetery. The memorial commemorates the death of approximately 8000 Christians during the reign on the Joseon dynasty in the 19th century. After both the cemetery and memorial we headed to the Uni district to explore all the uniquely Brunswick fashion and culture. Soon, hunger set in so I decided to take the girls to my favourite tteokbokki restaurant (Tteokbokki being sauteed rice cakes, meat, vegetables and eggs). Then I had a craving for more baseball batting cage action so I took the girls to my local and we had a swing of the bat before checking out some more shopping. With the girls suffering jet lag and myself suffering from end-of-trip fatigue we headed back to the warmth of the guesthouse to catch some z's.

22/12

A few days earlier the three of had organised to go to the Myogaksa Temple for a weekend templestay. Tenmplestay  government run cultural experience program that tourists get a taste for the incredible cultural heritage which has blossomed during the five thousand years of Korean history, as well as experience the cultural consciousness transmitted throughout Korean Buddhist history.Originally set up to cater for tourists in South Korea for the 2002 World Cup, the templestay program continues to be a great success for the Korean tourism industry.  The Myogaksa Temple is located in downtown Seoul and in walking distance to one of Seoul's many metro stations. A 10 minute metro, and a short 10 minute walk and we arrived at the doors of the temple where we were greeted by the templestay manager. Then we were showed to our rooms where we made our beds and changed into out temple attire. In our new get up modelled by Megan below, we met the Nun for a brief dicsussion on Korean buddhism and a prostration demonstration. With the clock nearing 5, we were ushered to the top level of the temple where we rung the temple bell 7 times and then headed down to the meditation hall for some more chanting and prostration. Dinner time was called and my eyes lit up- a vegetarian buffet was on the menu. The excitement for dinner was met with delicious tofu, spinach and other vegetarian delights. And then it was bed time- in anticipation of the following day's 430 am get up.

23/12

With a wake up call at 430 am under a direction of no talking we met with the nun out the fron of the dormintory to be led up to the bell for the daily morning bell ring. Then, like the previous night, we headed down to the meditation hall for some more prostrations and chanting. Then it was breakfast for some more vegetarin delights before we again meeted the nun, Yo Yo, for an hour long meditation session. It was realy just another display of how annoyingly flexible Megan is as Mum and I suffered with excruciating pins and needles and severe leg numbness. After the soothing yet painful session finished we had time to recover before we were to begin our 108 prostrations. For each prostration we added a bead to our necklace we added some sort of achievement to the seemingly unnecessary task for any non-Buddhit tourist. The prostrations marked the end of the program however the nun informed us that we had the opportunity to have an audience with the Zen Master of the temple. With our bags packed we headed down to the Zen MAster's room where we were treated to a number of anecdotes and a cup of red ginseng tea. It was then time to say goodbye to our templestay host, Yoyo and the other nuns and headed back onto Seoul streets in our civilian clothes. From the temple we decided to do the least spiritual/zen thing and go to Dongdaemun- shopping!!! Shopping trip made everyone exhausted and left us searching for bed after our stupidly early morning get up! A pizza, a glass of red was a great way to finish the day.

24/12

Waking up to Christmas Eve was exciting enough yet knowing we were going to Gangnam and seeing Psy was mind blowing. First stop off the substantial train ride was Coex Mall a huge mall famous for all its brand name shopping. Admiring the size of the mall we soon headed off in search of the real Gangnam where we could check our Korea's valet parking system and more high end shops- Nike and Adidas just arent high end enough for our tastes. So we set off on a long walk into the heart of the global city. After a fairly long walk we were in need of morning tea. Paris Baguette was our favourite bakery chain of the last few days providing hot coffee and a great selection of sweet treats so all our walking was essentially in search of this sought after bakery. Eventually we found a chain, located next to a korean dumpling shop, pumping out piping hot kimchi dumplings- our favourite korean delicacy. While mum got coffee Megan and I downed a couple of plates dumplings then moved on to paris baguette for coffee and dessert. Refueled we were ready to go window shop prada, gucci, ferragamo tory burch etc. Nespresso was less window shopping and more coffee drinking thanks to the free tasters. Sick of window shopping we headed to Uniqlo, the affordable Japanese department store, to act on our retail impulses. As it became dark it was time to see what was going down in Myeong Dong by the Lotte World christmas tree. With christmas carols and one huge lit up Xmas tree the vibe was good- and the provision of gluhwein made it even better. After a glass, we had decided to head to Myeong Dong cathedral for midnight mass. After a couple of hours of mass, all spoken in Korean, we emerged from the church to snow and buckets of it. The snow made for a purely magical experience. 

Op op op opa Gangnam style!

25/12

It was Christmas! In the Batts tradition of Christmas, panettone was essential to all the festivities. Doing recon on where to buy it earlier in the week we were prepared. So I rugged up and trotted down to the local deli, grabbed my freshly baked panettone and headed back. Downed some soup and bread as an entree then hopped in to the panettone. Presents were then opened and our clothes readied to go out and explore Seoul on Christmas day. Walking from the guest house we headed down to the palace and then on through Insadong, the crafty district of Seoul full of modern galleries and tea shops. Passing through Insadong we arrived at Seoul's new city hall and its forecourt- the location of a huge ice skating rink. Complementing the Christmas feel of the ice skating was a Korean jazz band playing allk your Christmas favourites. As a former player of a brass instrument, I had to stand there for a good few minutes wondering how they were making a sound in the -20 weather.  The hunger then began to set in and in the spirit of Christmas, we had decided poultry was on the menu. Not your typical poultry in the form of roast but in the form of the Korean favourite- fried chicken and beer.  Full with chicken, beer and out vege bake, we headed to dongdaemun for mum to purchase something she had picked out on our first shopping trip there. Picking up a coffee and a piece of slice while we were there worked out well for the only boy on tour. Then it was back to the guesthouse where our fellow Singaporean residents has bought a christmas cake at the local bakery and we shared it with our Korean hosts. Then after a long day it was time to hit the sack in anticipation of an early start tomorrow. 

26/12

Today was the day that we had booked our tour to the DMZ. The tour company had organised to pick us up at 6 30 to take us to the bigger bus that would take us to the border. A couple of hours drive led us first to the DMZ border where we had our passports checked by South Korean soldiers. With passport approval we pushed on to Imjingan Park, a park located on the banks of the Imjin River in the city of Paju, South Korea. The park has many statues and monuments regarding the Korean War. The park was built to console those from both sides who are unable to return to their hometowns, friends and families because of the division of Korea. From the park, we headed to the 3rd infiltration tunnel, a tunnel built by North Korean soldiers for a surprise attack on Seoul from North Korea. The tunnel can accommodate 30,000 men per hour which made South Koreans happy that they discovered the tunnel before North Korea got around to using it. After heading to the demarcation line through the tunnel, we emerged from the darkness and headed back into the bus to head to dorangsan station. The station is the last South Korean station before the North Korean border. Yet the station has tracks that run northward in the hope that Korea will again be reunified. From the station we then moved to the observatory, the point of South Korea where tourists can see the oddities of North Korea eg. the tall flagpole, the fake modern city, the freedom bridge and the industrial complex run by South Korea in North Korean territory. After the observatory, it was time to head back to Seoul via the ginseng factory; the point where tour companies try and swindle you out of any dollars you have after paying for the tour. With the tour dropping us off to Itaewon, I encouraged the girls to the War museum down the road while I organised tomorrow's travel plans. With tickets on the fast train to Busan and the Busan-Fukuoka ferry booked I met back up with the girls for some noodles, dumpling and Paris Baguette before heading back to the guesthouse to get ready for the next day's travel. Thanks Seoul and South Korea for an amazing time- you exceeded all expectations and will see all our faces very soon!!

China - Chopsticks, Chumplings, Choodles and Chemples

28/11

After a train ride that can only be described as eventful, we were due to our meet our guide who would take us to the Urumqi station ticket hall in the hope of being able to change the passport number on my train ticket (apparently if the passport number on your train ticket is different from your actual passport you aren’t allowed to travel on the train- this occurred as the ticket was booked with my previous passport in Australia). After visiting three different windows we were left with one option; to get a refund for our existing ticket and hope to repurchase it immediately. But as the ticket was refunded it was instantly purchased by one of the 1 billion chinese people just hanging out on the Chinese railways website. It was also the season for migrant workers to return home from Urumqi and there is only one train line out of Urumqi to the rest of China, the next train ticket would not be available until mid-December. So with this problem, Harris having a ticket and I not, we headed to the hostel to brainstorm some new ideas. But in order to brainstorm we needed to feed ourselves so we headed to the local shopping centre food court to grab some noodles. They didn’t disappoint and left us ready to decide on our plan of attack- we decided Harris would also refund his ticket and we would fly to shanghai. Making friends in our new hostel, we left us wanting more to eat so it was with our new friend Yang from Guangzhou that the boys went to dinner at a tiny Uyghur restaurant.  Flat noodles with vegetables to share, milk tea, and some horse then night market  for tofu and various other second dinners including pork pastry led to more beers at the hostel. Revisiting celebrity heads over beers also resulted in just as much fun as the train ride- salaman rushdie, angry birds and buzz lightyear were just a few selections.

29/11

Given the change of plans we had jobs to do- buy plane ticket, refund the train ticket and change the Kazakh Tenge that we withdrew in Dostyk to pay the not forthcoming fine. All done by mid afternoon left us to our leisure. So we headed to the Li Ning shop to suss out what the Chinese Nike equivalent had in store. Leaving with full bags- Xinjiang Flying Tigers basketball gear, we headed back to the hostel. There we picked up our man Yang and the 5 boys- Yang, Me and Tristo, Andrej and new boy Yuri from Slovakia. There we headed to the night market  round the corner for spicy laghman noodles then a few beers before hitting the sack.

30/11

Exhausted from the last few days of travel, trouble with various border officials and reorganisation we were due for a sleep in. But with all this sleep we had energy to burn so it was off as a crew of 8- the crew of 5 plus Yang, Simon the French cyclist and Adrian the Singaporean to the Xinjian autonomous region museum. After being treated to some ethnographic displays, historical articles and freaky mummies we headed to Urumqi’s big bazaar to try on fur hats and get a real vibe for Urumqi as a Uyghur city. After having trouble hailing a taxi we tested Urumqi’s bus system with our friend Adrian before arriving back at the hostel where hunger soon set in and prompted us to hunt down dinner. Dinner came at the trusty spicy laghman restaurant. Then it was time to party so we cracked the bottle of vodka we bought in Dostyk to get the party started. But as we started late and the 0100 curfew didn’t seem conducive to going out. So we stayed in and instead decided to make our own party in the citizens park at the rear of our hostel. But not only did we make our own party in the park, we escalated it by taking it to the middle of the frozen lake in the park with some Balkan folk music. Despite dancing to keep warm we were frozen ice blocks in -15 so headed back inside to finish the party with some dessert and cup of tea. Then a bit of packing was to be done before bed!

01/12

As the alarm rang at 7 am we said our goodbyes to Andre and the dutchies before we had to get up ourselves to pack, get breakfast in us and then head out into the freezing cold to get a cab and get to the airport. As we hailed a taxi, we were reminded that although we were freezing our balls off the rest of Urumqi thought this weather was bearable especially the 50 yo on his morning run in singlet and shorts. While initially struggling for a taxi, the running man seems our lucky charm as we soon had a taxi who understood our actions and was taking us to the airport. With our bags checked in we indulged in some coffee and cake, while discussing grossness of china- using immediate examples of snott rockets on the floor and lurgies in the bin. Then it was time to board the plane and we settled in after some brief turbulence to watch Pixar’s ‘Brave’ movie. After 4 hours, we arrived in Shanghai where we were treated to an awesomely efficient metro from airport to Zhogshan park where then the hostel directions were faultless to take us to the front dor of Rock & Wood International Hostel. There after checking in we settled into our awesome room to have a beer, meet shaun the aussie who then took us to a local noodle restaurant. On our return we met Arman the Armenian-russian, who was playing pool and seemed cagey a first but then opened up to us. After placing a bet on him disclosing his occupation to us should I win we eventually extracted what he is doing in shanghai- import-export he tells us..suspicious!

02/12

Arman took us out to this noodle/dumpling joint around the corner which was arguable one of the best places I have eaten; even though a late night shazlick had poisoned me I could still manage a few. He enlightened us on the eccentricities of Russian women and how they are weak and essentially second class citizens. Russia sounds a bit backwards. We left Arman to seal some drug deals with the local Shanghai-ites and ventured off to find the French Concession. This area was developed as a premier residential area of Shanghai and I would liken it to the Fitzroy of Shanghai. Some great indie clothing stores and cool cafes which Finlay decided was worthy of 5/5 beans and a leaf for the lovely barista. After all this activity I was knackered and headed home for a sleep while Finn blogged.

03/12

TianTong copy market was the place to find all things fake and the highest density of annoying Chinese sales assistants in the whole of China. Although I always wanted to punch them square in the jaw to silence their incessant chatter I thought that fighting off a store 7 storey building worth of Chinese people would prove a challenge that even Finn and I couldn’t win. Finlay did however use some impressive bargaining skills to pay $15 for a pair of Vans. Next stop was the Peoples Park, a nice relaxing park amongst the hustle and bustle of Shanghai. One thing we did watch out for was the young Chinese couples that are uber friendly who come up to you asking for a photo, then engage you in conversation and then bang! Before you know it you have lost a kidney or are being charged $100 for a cup of tea. Luckily we were privy to their plans and found lunch in Yangs Dumplings. After this I decided to head back home for a nap while Finlay headed to Shangai Museum and learnt all about the ancient pottery.

04/12

A trip to Shanghai is not complete without a visit to the Bund. On our journey we encountered three old guys playing sax which was hooked up to huge amps and a man rollerblading around them. Not sure if he was part of the show but it added to the atmosphere. The Bund itself is the wealthy waterfront area of Shanghai overlooking the business district and all its skyscrapers, which include the can opener and the oriental pearl tower (two pink alien ships skewered by some steel).

Two interesting cultural facts they don’t tell you in the guide books (if we were allowed to keep ours) are:

• Spitting – Chinese people can spit. Doesn’t matter if it’s a grandma or a 3yo kid, everyone spits, everywhere. Watch out, its gross and the will hit you. This was most noticeable in Urumqi as when they spat on the footpath it was so cold that the spit would freeze. So you ended up with huge frozen lugies everywhere. 
• Kids and toilets – any drain or bin is actually a kids toilet. Most memorably we saw a kid tell his mum that he needed to go (whilst in the subway) so she led him to a bin dropped is pants and held him over the bin while the kid took a duce. Gross.

05/12

Today was a very special day, Hammer’s going away party in Beijing! Finn and I boarded the 300km/h high speed train from Shanghai to Beijing. I frothed over the beauty of this train but then remembered a guy telling me of the 2011 derailment. In traditional Chinese Government style the train was quickly buried next to the tracks to dispose of the evidence before the official crash investigation team arrived. Safely arriving in Beijing we navigated the metro and arrived at our hostel was no problems. We were greeted by Andrej and his first words were “do you want a Shisha?” followed by “how are you?” he was back! Viola and Tessa arrived shortly after and it was time to make a party. Wangfuching night market was our first stop which had any number of strange meats and insects to try; spiders, silk worm, snake, dog, cow penis were all sampled by Andrej and I as Fin and the girls looked on in disgust, but still that didn’t stop them from encouraging us. Next stop was the Drum and Bell tower for an overpriced beer until we found building no.206 where we found Temple Bar. This was clearly the headquarters of all the expats as not a single Chinese person could be found. We were treated to some good beers and an average Brazilian/Beijing Funk band.

06/12

After a few too many beers and strange meats, our head and our guts didn’t feel the best. But we mustered the energy to head to Beixinqiao metro and hit up the hippest/trendiest/indiest part of Beijing. After all theirs nothing better than retail therapy to cure your ills. Post-purchasing we thought it was time for dinner and given we were in Peking/Beijing there was nothing more appropriate than Peking Duck. Andrej was so keen on some duck, that he already had done his re-con on where we might get the best of it. So we headed to the street known as ‘Eat to Death Street’ and sifted through the many peking duck options to eventually find the most likely restaurant for a Grade A Peking Duck; a restaurant with a separate duck roasting kitchen. After the duck, and a bunch of vegetarian dishes for the girls we headed back to the hostel. Maximum sleep was needed for the whole team as Tessa left for Holland early the next morning and the lads were going to beat the crowd into the Forbidden City. 

07/12

After putting an effort in to make the earliest get up of NLA so far, we had high expectations. With a quick pit stop at our local dumpling house, we soon arrived at the main gate to greeted by the large portrait of Mao we soon entered the ground of the Forbidden City. It was fair to say we were were amazed with what we saw. The sheer size of the Chinese medieval complex was astounding. However the chilly morning weather was getting to us and we decided to take shelter in the warmth of the hostel. Once Viola had returned from her early airport excursion we set off in search of more sightseeing activities. A short metro ride led us to tick off both the Lama Temple and another Confucian Temple before grabbing a feed at a classic Chinese vegetarian restaurant. The menu included the whole array of fake meat dishes as well as your classic vego favourites. Then it was back to the hostel for a couple of quiet beers  and a classic orange/mint pipe. 

08/12

Being a Sunday at the end of the trip we decided to make the most of a sleep in especially given our afternoon was going to be a busy one. This afternoon we had organised to go and play touch with the Beijing Touch Club at their home ground in Chaoyang Park.  With line 10 closed (our way to get there) and the mercury at -18 degrees the training session wasn’t looking so enticing but we persisted regardless. Eventually finding the ground we were warmly welcomed by the club and straight into some games with the multicultural expat crowd. After a couple of hours of fully clothed games we said thankyou to our new friends; stopping for a couple of steamed pork buns for our post-training protein fix. With walking our only option to get home or to the nearest working metro line we started the journey and unexpectedly ticked another sightseeing spot off our Beijing Bucket List. This time it was the CCTV building or the ‘big underpants’ as they are more commonly known. Arriving back at the hostel, a warm shower was top of the list before we started indulging in some more tsingtao’s and shisha. Then we made a team decision to go out and try some of Beijing’s nightlife at an advertised dubstep party. A quick bowl of noodles prepared us for the short taxi ride to the nightclub before we were greeted by a largely expat crowd fresh from their Beijing Santa pub crawl. After some heavy bass and some even heavier drinks we were good to head home. 

09/12

Overdosing on santa/xmas vibes we were slow to get up and get going. To cure our overdoses we headed to starbucks before getting a dirty great big serve of dumplings and sweet and sour pork ribs. With full stomachs we headed back to the hostel for a bit of Inception and the last Dutch-Australian-MAcedonian Overseas Shisha Partnership Event (DAMOSPE). Then it was a farewell to Viola and Andrej as they set off on their extremely slow overnight train to Shanghai. 

10/12

Jingshan Park was on the list today. This little gem is a rather large square park with two interesting facts:

• It consists of a large hill which was formed by all the excavated dirt from the moat surrounding the Forbidden City.
• One of the Ming emperors hung himself from a locust tree in this park when he fled from the forbidden city as rebels swarmed the city walls

The top of the hill had a few temples and an amazing 360 degree view of Beijing. We also discovered a large group of old Chinese women dancing in synchronisation to 80’s dance music – it was fantastic to watch the old ducks go at it!

11/12

Next on the NLABSA (No Longer Anchored Beijing Sightseeing Agenda) was a visit to the Olympic district, the site of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The long 3 metro line journey to the area left us peckish. So arriving at the first steamed bun shop, we picked up some handy treats and continued on our way down one of the many smog-filled roads of the city. But it wasn’t long before divisive steel structure of Beijing’s Bird Nest stadium. Arriving at the district we were shocked to see the wasteland that now existed in the place of temporary infrastructure that mesmerized the world in 2008. 

We pushed on through the polluted man-made canal and onto the stadium, the walk of fame and the water cube where we were continuously harassed by various hawkers and their elaborate flying kites. Underwhelmed we pushed through the district out onto the main road and down to the nearest metro station and rolled back to the hostel. Tonight we had arranged to meet up with our favourite Frenchman, Raphael, to catch up and share stories on our very different paths through Central Asia and Western China. Like many of our reunions, beer was involved and after a few beers it was time to hit the sack- especially since tomorrow we hard organised to visit the Great Wall of China.

12/12

Today was the day that we decided we would make the journey out of downtown Beijing and to the Great Wall. We had chosen to go to the Badaling section of the wall; the cheapest and most accessible section of the wall. Our touring party, da boyz, Paul Hammelman (the german biomedical engineer) and ?? set off from our central Beijing location with directions of the hostel staff to the bus station at the end of the metro line. As we stepped off the metro we were greeted by pouring snow – ideal conditions for heading to the mountains. Arriving at the bus stop, some men from the Beijing Transport Authority conveyed to us (in their fluent Mandarin and broken English) that no buses to the Badaling section of the wall would run today- it was only private cars that would face the terrible conditions. Deflated by both the pouring snow and the bad news we were left wondering what our day would now entail. As we stood their discussing our next action we were approached by the dudes from the transport authority who offered to drive us to the wall. A lovely but nonetheless expensive offer. Given we had made the effort to get out here we thought we may as well go the extra distance to the wall. We soon agreed to an extremely inflated price, and reached Badaling. There we were met by more aggressive hawkers but pushed on up the huge stone stairs, past the treacherous ice slides to the furthest accessible parts of the wall. With all 3 of us frozen to the bone we soon bailed out back to the car, back to the metro station and back to the warmth of the hostel. With the arrival of the Polish GAP unit, Tahlia, Matt, Joel and Nathan, to Beijing, we organised to have dinner at our favourite handmade noodle shop where we indulged in some noodle soups and crispy chilli green beans.

13/12

Cooking school – dumplings

With most of things ticked off the NLABSA we were free to enjoy some of the less popular activities of Beijing. On the recommendation of some fellow travellers from our time in Turkey we had enrolled in the Black Sesame Cooking School Dumpling-making course. With the course beginning at 830 we all arrived bleary eyed but keen to cook up a storm. Our enthusiasm was bolstered by the fact that we knew whatever we cooked we would be eating. After some quick lessons from our Chinese-American host on knife technique and etiquette we began with the dumpling dough. With some vigorous kneading and hands-on guidance from both our host and imperial chefs we had finished our dough and were onto the filling. On the menu today was pork and pumpkin and shiitake mushroom and glass noodle dumplings. The dumplings were challenging to wrap but as we steamed through the wrapping, we were onto the cooking and one step closer to the eating. With a beer and rice wine in hand it was time to hoe in to our delicious dumplings. Full to the brim with dumplings we thanked our wonderful hosts, packed our cooking school aprons and headed out into the freezing cold. With the afternoon to ourselves we snuck in another bit of sightseeing; a visit to the Drum and Bell Tower. Our arrival conveniently coincided with the daily drum performance. With our ears ringing we headed back down the steep stairs and to the nearest cafe for a well earned coffee.

14/12

 Paul emerged from a day of sightseeing with a Australian girl called Eva. She was a Sydney sider who lived in a strange warehouse commune and loved all things Psych Trance including Rainbow Serpent. They were both planning on heading to an acrobatic performance, which Finn and I decided to tag along to. We all hopped into a taxi but after sitting in gridlock for 30mins we realised that we wouldn’t make the 7pm show. Instead we formulated a new plan, off to the Hutongs for beers! 

It was after all my last night in Beijing and with Finlay; I was off to Melbourne tomorrow. Finn led us though the maze of Hutongs until we found a nice looking Reggae bar which seemed to only play Christmas songs. Having said that it was warm, had cheap beer, foozball and Jenga! With all these games about teams eventually formed and we had Terafractile (Harris and Eva) vs Arselicker (Finn and Paul). The first test was Foozball. Naturally Paul should dominated being German but Eva used her Psych Trance abilities to her advantage and we tore Arselicker a new one winning the series 3 – 0. Finn was in a shifting mood and soon we were hitting back tequila shots.Then a man walked into the bar and challenged Paul to a game of Foozball. Paul, determined to boost his shattered ego accepted and began to play. Little did he know that this dude was a ded set freak just using one hand to play the game and sharked poor Paul. Guttered bruised and battered Paul sought comfort in the form of a small kitten that appeared at the bar. As the reggeae beats died away we decided to head home. Stepping outside we were treated to a fresh dump of a foot of snow! Running through the Hutongs of Beijing we had some serious drunken snow ball fights to cap off one of the best evenings that Beijing can offer!

15/12

Who ever thought 5 months could go so quickly? And who thought we could actually get from Brussels to Beijing in one piece with rather large beards! In celebration of what could only be described as the #besttripever #yolo we treated and celebrated our numerous achievements and friendship with two peaking ducks. Paul, Jo and Eva (the vegetarian duck eater) joined us for the feast and we had a quacking good time.

Finn quietly chaperoned me to the train station on my way to the airport. It was over – for me at least and I don’t think either of us could believe it, but as Yoda said once “it is decided”. The NLA gods had spoken and we embraced, beards intertwining. Men don’t cry, so we didn’t. Thanks for an amazing trip brother. Hasta luego – West Africa 2015….?