Whine & Cheese

Photo Friday: Exercise

I have to say I get kind of excited when I realize it's Friday and remember that I have to check out the latest Photo Friday challenge... and it is always a little disappointing when there is a theme that I can't find a picture for (like last week's "Old Fashioned")... and this week my initial reaction to "Exercise" was that it was going to be another submission-less week. 

Fortunately it didn't take me too long to remember (more than likely after a few swigs of coffee) that I did have a good candidate, actually a few pictures of Beijing-ers doing their morning exercises at the Temple of Heaven park.  I submitted this one:

While we have a lot of memories of incredible things, I dare say that smaller moments like this one will very likely stay in our memories just as much as the Forbidden City or the Great Wall. 

When we learned we were going to the Temple of Heaven park, my expectation didn't go far beyond seeing some architecture (pretty much the hall/temple that was in all the guide books) and/or learning a bit of history.   So it was quite the surprise when we walked through the entrance and we greeted by the blare of music and people doing all kinds of morning exercises - and all in groups.   There were women whirling colorful ribbons on sticks (that whole rhythmic gymnastics "apparatus"), men and women moving this ball around a racket (as seen above) - and even a couple pretty much doing a dance to it, passing the ball quite elegantly from one to another - and folks doing what I can only call some Chinese version of hackey-sack (it was more like a badminton "birdie).

At the time, I was worried that I may have not been able to capture photographs of it, as my camera lens immediately fogged up when I took off the lens at the park, but fortunately - after a quick wipe with lens tissue - it adjusted to humid conditions.  I can almost feel the sweat dripping down by back and legs, just thinking about it. 

It was really a wonderful sight.  I am finding that some of the best moments, particularly on these trips to foreign countries, is when you stumble onto something authentic and/or just everyday life.   While I found Beijing to be just as crazy (okay, maybe crazier) than other big cities I have visited, how nice it was to experience, albeit very briefly, this "locals" escape from city life. 

Reading Challenge: Books #17, #18, and #19

I joked on a recent Twitter (or Plurk or Facebook status update) that I probably should not set reading goals in Olympic years.  While my goal of reading 12,345 pages this year was very much in jeopardy before the Olympics, it goes without saying that unless I go into some serious over-drive it ain't gonna happen.  That said, I was still surprised to see the page pace I was still on... so we'll see where it ends up!

If I being behind in reading wasn't enough, I see that I am also woefully behind in blog posts about the books that I have read.   So decided to do something a little different here and do a mini-post about the past three of them... if the adage "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all" is true, this shouldn't be any longer than one of my normal book posts - two of my three last books left me fairly underwhelmed - which seems to be a ongoing theme this year... and pretty darn frustrating... there's simply not enough time to be reading so-so books!   

The Garden of Last Days by Andre Dubus III
I picked up this book (in hardcover no less!) because I simply loved Dubus' debut (ha!) novel, The House of Sand and Fog.  That book (Sand and Fog) had me on the edge of my chair as it spiral-ed downward to stunning and tragic ending.  Days shifts its narrative over a handful of characters... stripper with a heart of gold, April, who is forced to take her young child, Franny, to work after her landlord/babysitter Jean falls ill... troubled AJ, one of the men's club regular customers, gets kicked out after he unintentionally touches one of the strippers... Lonnie, a strip club bouncer secretly in love with April... and Bassam, a middle Eastern man and one of April's private dance room customers who is both enthralled and disgusted by this American behavior (the novel takes place in the early days of September 2001... hmmm, wonder where that's going?!). 

While this book was extremely readable (I averaged over 55 pages a day), ultimately it was a pale re-tread of the same themes (people making very innocent, but very bad decisions) Dubus explored in Sand and Fog.  And at least in that novel, you could kind of sympathize with both parties.  I didn't find any of the characters particularly likable, which isn't necessarily a requirement for me to enjoy a book, but if they aren't going to likable at least make them compelling.  Also, the book lacked forward momentum... over 500 pages devoted to one night of "action" may be to blame... and a conclusion that I thought was more whimper than bang.   Ultimately, a big 'ole sophomore slump for Dubus in my opinion... and further proof that I should never put much stock in Stephen King's book recommendations.  King often writes about books for Entertainment Weekly and while I didn't know it at the time, he had given a glowing review of Days... King had also raved about Scott Smith's The Ruins, which was also a sophomore effort and also left me feeling I had wasted my time... so no more King recommendations for me... and also some serious reservations of future Dubus novels.

Reservation Road by Richard Yates
This book had been on my "to read" list for awhile now... but thanks to an upcoming film adaptation of it (more on that later), I figured it was time to get to it before the movie got around to influencing my mental image of the written work (mind you, not that I ever get around to seeing these book to movies in the theater).   Viewed as a modern classic of the underbelly of life in suburbia, this was the gem/saviour of this bunch of three books.  The novel is set in the 1950s with the newly married Frank and April Wheeler (and family) may appear to the be the Ozzie and Harriet to their neighbors, but inside their storybook home there is a lot more going on than meets the eye.  It is easy to see how this work is viewed (though I have read nothing specific to say it is/was) as the inspiration for the novels of Tom Perotta (Election, Little Children) and films like American Beauty... and while it is satiric of the burgeoning suburbia... it is far darker/edgier than any of those latter works... a quite cautionary tale of doing what's expected, instead of what would make you happy.  And, in this present day, it is also a fascinating look at life in the 50s - working without computers, gleeful drinking and smoking (even while pregnant!), etc.   

As I mentioned above, I suspect you will be hearing a lot more about this book in the coming months as the film version marks the much anticipated (??) Titanic on-screen re-union of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet (with American Beauty's - and Winslet's now hubby - Sam Mendes directing).  Fortunately, I had sorta kinda forgot about that while I was reading the book (apologies for putting those images in your head if I am inspiring you to give the book a go)... but the roles are quite meaty and its no surprise that this is tabbed for a late December, just in time for Oscar consideration, release.

Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed The World by David Maraniss
I'm guessing no explanation is needed for why I picked up this book (again, another hardcover purchase).. and I just about finished it prior to our trip to Beijing.  Pretty much any Olympic Games, is worthy of a book - there's always fascinating stories or participants - but the Olympics in Rome seemed to particularly rife with material.   Athlete-wise you had the legendary names of Rafer Johnson, Wilma Rudolph, and Cassius Clay (who was still years away from transforming into Muhammad Ali)... it was the first Olympics to be televised - though very archaically, with tapes being flown in nightly from Italy and first-timer Jim McKay, "hosting" the coverage from a studio in New York City.  The actions that would lead to the building of the Berlin Wall were underway, the American civil rights movement was still years away for black American athletes, the era of doping began with tragic consequences at the start of the Games, while the ear of an all-amateur competition was being chipped away. 

Pretty compelling stuff, huh?  I thought so too, but somehow (at least for me) Pulitzer Prize winner Maraniss somehow made it seem all pretty dry... more a reporting (this happened, then this, then this) style.... all very well-researched and informative, but again just not terribly engaging, particularly given the rich material. 

You Never Know...

... who ends up reading your blog. 

I've had another one of my "straight boy" crushes kind of found out... it most infamously happened a few years back when I was gushing over a contestant on The Amazing Race... but this one comes via a post a few weeks back where I highlighted my piqued interest in ABC News' David Muir... and a contestant on the CBS reality show The Greatest American Dog.

Unfortunately, this post is not some steamy encounter with Mr. Muir while both of us were in Beijing (so close, but yet so far)... but alas from the dog show... and my run-down of Presley the boxer's owner, Travis. If you need a reminder, this is Travis:

While I am not as fanatical about it as I used to be, I still at least take a glance at how folks are reaching my blog pretty much every day.  So it was a bit of an "uh oh" moment, when I saw some hits coming in from travisandpresley.com.   I investigated a little further and here's a screen cap:

As you see, my little admiration piece ended up in the "press room" section of this site -- which I have really no idea how closely affiliated or involved either Travis (or for that matter, Presley) are with it -- but it was still pretty amusing... and not to bad to be in the company of my beloved Entertainment Weekly and their hometown newspaper. 

The Amazing Race 13 Cast

Since I teased it yesterday, here are the teams for The Amazing Race 13 - returning after what seems like a pretty long hiatus (remember TAR12 champs TJ & Rachel?).  Ok, I looked back at my own blog (duh??) an the last season ended early this year - so not that long ago.. anyhow, here are they are:

Back Row/Standing (from left to right) - ages in parentheses

Ken & Tina (51/48) - Married, but separated, Ken is a former NFL player
Mark & Bill (41/42) - Friends/Comic book aficionados, Mark is Comic-Con CFO
Aja & Ty (25/25) - Dating long distance
Anthony & Stephanie (32/32) - Dating again after a year's separation
Anita & Arthur (63/60) - Married hippies/bee keepers
Andrew & Dan (22/23) - Frat brothers
Toni & Dallas (51/22) - Mother and son
Marisa & Brooke (22/24) - Friends/"Southern Belles"

Front Row/Sitting (from left to right)

Terence & Sarah (35/31) - Dating
Kelly & Christy (26/26) - Best Friends/Divorcees
Nick & Starr (22/21) - Brother and Sister

Although TAR is one of my favorite reality shows, I have to admit I grew a tad weary of it in the last couple of seasons (the same thing happened with Survivor, which I stopped watching altogether - the only thing that might bring me back this upcoming season is that it's shot in HD)... so we'll see if after this self-perceived extended break, if I'll have a renewed interest in the show.  What I definitely will have ... is a new respect for the Racers... having had an Amazing Race travel year of my own - I really don't know how they do it now!

The new season premieres on Sunday, September 28th.

Beijing Memories: Closing

While I certainly won't promise that this will be my last Beijing/Olympic-related post, now that the Games have closed this will likely mark the end of the daily "memories" posts ... believe me, I am experiencing Olympic fatigue myself!   It's certainly feels like we experienced two Olympics - one that we still very surreal-y experienced first-hand and the other much more typical experience from our armchairs!

We have found ourselves generally agreeing with many other wrap-up/memory type reports that we have read or watched on television.  That feeling of contradictions seems to be a universal experience - a true love affair having developed for the Chinese people, but still considerable reservations about the controlling nature and behavior of the government.  It will be fascinating to see what happens to China as a result of the Olympics - it was all a fascinating and quite delicate balance - the country is certainly progressing (to think in my lifetime, there was a point where I didn't even have the option of visiting China, let alone for a worldwide athletic competition) and moving rapidly to the future - but I have thought that it is "getting in its own way" quite a bit too.

Anyhow, as we prepared to leave Beijing we were thinking that a week was probably just enough time.  Surprisingly enough, I hadn't experienced much fatigue in the trip over (not nearly the 5 days it took to recover once I  get come).  I think it was just the excitement of being there and can I am confident pure adrenalin was to thank for getting me through much of our week and a very, very active schedule of activities.  But towards the end of the trip, you can see the fatigue start to set in with us and other in the group... and even mental, as patience with each other started to wane. 

It is an odd situation to be thrown in a group of strangers (Todd really was acquaintances with only one other person of the group size of nearly 20)... often I joked that it felt like we were on the Amazing Race, with the couples traveling together.  Needless to say, you know what TAR team demo we fulfilled... and w were joined by such common "teams" as married couples (of different nationalities), older couples, mother and son, father and son, two male co-workers, etc.   So, I'll just say it was probably a good thing our trip ended when it did...ha!

I'd be curious to hear if others have the same experience when they're all packed up and getting ready to head out of their hotel room one last time.   I always seem to have this somewhat glum... "well, this is it" moment... and I'll be man enough to admit that I have been emotional about it times.   There is so much anticipation for vacations/trips, that it is often hard to believe or digest that they are over ... this Beijing trip was certainly off the charts in that department...

But I had a big 'ole ... "get you when you least expected" or "thought it was all over" moment.  We found out about this unbelievable trip to the Olympics in the midst of what would end up being that very difficult time of losing Toby so unexpectedly.  In fact, I had one of the many vet appointments on the very day we received the Beijing news.  I am still grateful that we had hope for Toby on that particular day and were able to celebrate the news... it would be several days later that we would have to face the news that he only had a short time left.   

And when the end did come, I was worried that Toby's death and this Olympic trip would be helplessly intertwined.  But the adage that "time heals" proved true and it wasn't until we were getting ready to leave our Beijing hotel room that it crashed back into my mind... and again, I'll fully admit to having a bit of an extended "episode"... and poor Todd, though now quite familiar with what has become predictable teary-eyed departures, didn't have a clue where this 0-60 mph breakdown was coming from, nor could I effectively vocalize it for a bit.

OK, onto more fun/happy stuff!   On our Beijing flight to SF, again we weren't seated together.  We attempted to check online to see if we could change our seats... but no luck... and once we got to the airport, we also tried to see if we could swap with the agent - but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that any plane departing Beijing a week or two into the Games was heavily booked (or overbooked). 

The agent however did offer a "special rate" (but still gulp-worthy $$$)  to upgrade to business class - at first, we said "naaah"... but then we quickly started second-guessing ourselves and thinking "What the hell?" (ok, "hell" wasn't exactly the internal phrase used).   We thought about the 12 hour flight ahead and having been in the first row of economy on our flight over -- and witnessed first-hand the insane amount of sitting and breathing room, the non-plastic plates and "cutlery," the hot towels to freshen up with, etc... so we devilishly decided to be indulgent and take the upgrade... and boy, it is a decision we didn't regret.  It will certainly be difficult to think about flying economy again for any long flight in our future! 

And while I was probably one of the few people onboard who knew it, there was also a professional tennis player just a few rows ahead of us in business class -- Russian (but kinda American) pro, Dmitry Tursonov... who had the misfortune of drawing Roger Federer in the first round of Olympic tennis tournament.  I was planning on snapping a picture of him in baggage claim as proof, but he pretty much disappeared once we got off the plane.

Oh, our other "celebrity" run-in was... Matt Lauer!   Another story that got underservedly lost in big 'ole shuffle of all this was that we got to meet another blogger while in Beijing.  James of Life in Beijing stumbled on to my blog shortly after we received the big news, and was an invaluable resource leading up to the trip.  Thankfully we were able to meet up for dinner on what ended up being our one free night... James, and his partner James, are ex-pat Americans who now call Beijing home, and took us to this wonderful restaurant that was named one of the best in Beijing (and in the world by the NY Times, if I remember correctly) and... what you know, we walk in and  there was Matt Lauer being ushered off to a private dining room (quite common in Beijing we learned)!  So that was pretty cool... and we can only hope to find such wonderful dumplings here in the States!   I encourage you to check out James' blog for some serious first-hand accounts of lots of Olympic events!

So that's it for now -- like I said, you likely haven't heard the last of our Beijing adventures -- but I sense I'll be returning to "normal programming" in the days ahead.

DWTS7 Cast Revealed

I've been slipping with my "usual" post fodder of late (I've known about the new Amazing Race cast for about a week now!), but had to go ahead and post the just released Dancing With the Stars cast -- again, I'm starting to think the pro dancers are becoming more of the "stars" on this show...

Susan Lucci (soap opera legend - paired with Tony Dovolani)
Toni Braxton (singer - paired with Alec Mazo)
Lance Bass (formerly of N'Sync, gay poster-child - paired with Lacey Schwimmer)
Kim Kardashian (reality show creation - paired with Marc Ballas)
Cloris Leachman (veteran actress and 82 years old! - paired with Corky Ballas - Marc's dad!)
Ted McGinley (sitcom regular - paired with Inna Brayer)
Brooke Burke (actress/hosted reality show Rock Star - paired with Derek Hough)
Warren Sapp (former NFL-er - paired with Kym Johnson)
Maurice Greene (Double gold medalist in track at the 2000 Sydney Olympics - paired with Cheryl Burke)
Misty May-Treanor (fresh 2-time beach volleyball gold medalist - paired with Maks Chmerkovskiy)
Rocco Dispirito (chef - paired with Karina Smirnoff)
Cody Linley (of "Hannah Montana" - paired with Julianne Hough)
Jeffrey Ross (comedian - paired with Edyta Sliwinska)

At 13 "stars," apparently this is the biggest cast ever... and to suit that, the season will kick off with a 3-hour (gaaaah!) premiere on Sep. 22nd.

Beijing Memories: Judo

Before I begin, just a quick word to you let you know all the Beijing pix have been uploaded to Flickr - 164 pix of the 463 taken - so a higher ratio than normal - and some pix that I normally would not have uploaded, but this was a pretty unique situation so I bit less critical on what was good enough for Flickr.   Oh, actually I will be posting some more pictures - but they'll be those schmancy/artsy HDR versions of pics that are already there...

And on a sidenote (boy I am very tangential of late!), I have determined that I really don't take that many pictures -- after a week+ in Beijing I have determined that people take pictures of a lot of stupid things - c'mon do you really need pictures of each of the 20+ display cases at Ming Tombs or 4 pictures of a cannon on the Great Wall (particularly when I while I am waiting for you to get out of the frickin' way so I can take 1 picture of it!). 

Anyhow, I have come to the realization that I have not yet written about attending any sporting events yet... and I guess there is no better place to start than the first one -- judo!

First off, we were lucky enough to be bussed to all the events (though for a couple we found our own way back to the hotel - and quite memorably both time we did it, but that's another post).  Given the amount of people that had to get to the event venues, I have to say I was always amazed that we got there in time and that the bus picked us up pretty much at the time and place they told us they would.  And while traffic was heavy in spots, for the most part we got around pretty easily thanks to car use restrictions (based the last digit of license plates people could only drive on odd or even days)... and at times some roads (particularly those outside the city limits) were eerily empty.

So we arrived nice and early for the judo matches at Beijing Science and Technology University Gymnasium (not to be confused with the badminton venue of Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium or the volleyball venue of Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium... yikes, it's a good thing we didn't have to talk to a driver!)... and had a nice wait, since the previous session was still going on and then the gym had to empty.  It was pretty darn humid and I can certainly remember standing in the packed crowd with sweat dripping down by back and even my legs.  We are certainly used to HOT here in Arizona, but this humidity and amount of fluid loss was something we had not experienced in quite some time!

Being early in the Games (I won't to say it was Saturday, the first full day of competition), security was a bit crazy... both for the folks plowing in and trying to get from mob into single file... and the security was taking there jobs VERY seriously (while still thorough, security went a lot more quickly at future events).  Of course, there was the food and beverage restrictions - but Todd had a little hang-up with his box of Tic-Tacs (part of our welcome gift package).  The mint candies posed a security threat and he was ultimately told him he would be allowed to bring in just one Tic Tac into the venue... but he decided not to risk it and just send the entire little box to the garbage heap.

Ok... onto judo!   I know this may come as a huge surprise to many of you, but I don't have the slightest clue about... and since coming home I haven't researched to see if any of the things I think I learned are actually true... but this is what I think I know.

First, it's a form of martial arts... kind of wrestling-ish, but a more standing version of it... tugging on clothes is perfect acceptable (and highly encouraged with the guys... as the result was usually a nice view of their upper torso - of course, the ladies had shirts underneath their judo top)... points were awarded for different moves... and the best I could tell those point values were 1, 10, 100, and 1000.  The 1000 point move, a throw landing your opponents shoulder on the mat, was the equivalent of a knockout and ended the match -- and was called an ippon.  And a lot of the action took place in the last 30 seconds of the match as each opponent tried to get those last points.  Hey, picked up a lot for a couple of hours of judo... wouldn't you say?   Here's a look at the action:

For the early matches, it was a bit distracting to try and keep track of two matches at once but I tended to focus on the nearer mat (it was the same case with badminton with sometimes three matches going on at the same time... when they got to the medal rounds, there was only one match at a time which was nice.

We saw the extra-lightweight division -- so under 106 lbs for the women and under 132 for the men -- which surprised me a bit since they didn't seem that small... we saw some wrestling on TV this week and I swear it was midget wrestling.

Besides soaking in my first Olympic experience (they really do play that Olympic music!) here were a few standout memories.  There was huge contingent of Japanese fans behind us... and they were very supportive of their countrywoman, Ryoko Tani.   A guy came down in front of the section to lead the cheering and the clashing of "thunder sticks."  Don't have a clue what they were cheering, but it was very enthusiastic and was particularly funny when the guys voice started cracking from all his shouting.    Ryoko went on to earn a bronze medal.

In the true Olympic spirit, we got to see the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.   The defeat was in the women's bronze medal match as this bad-ass chick from North Korea who would yell/growl (something like "Hii!") at her opponent each time they were broken up and re-set.  Towards the end of the match, there was a good move/flip and she was awarded 100 points -- which was enough to give her the match and the medal.  I was kind of confused since I thought her opponent, Paula Pareto from Argentina, had made the move... but heck, what do I know about judo?   But as the match ended with the North Korean celebrating, there was a delay in the scores... ultimately the score was reversed and the bronze awarded to Pareto.  The North Korean was pissed... she stomped, pouted, refused to shake hands... but ultimately relented.  It was entertaining, but pretty heart-breaking too... even if she was a bad-ass from North Korea.

The thrill of victory moment came from the kinder, gentler South Korean... with Minho Choi winning the gold medal by ippon (IPPPOOOOON!!!).   He dropped to his knees and cried... and even not knowing a thing about judo or having known of Choi's existence two hours prior... it was still hard not to get a little choked up.  That whole fulfilling that likely life-long dream, all the hard work, hours put in... and this was the 5 minutes that counted.

I was very glad we got to see some medal matches as particularly a medal ceremony.  Growing up as a big fan of the Olympics,  it was quite special to see a medal ceremony in person... and believe it or not, they actually do have medal ceremonies that do not include at least one American!   This is one of my favorite pix from the entire trip...

Beijing Memories: The People

First off, I want to thank everyone for the comments and emails about my posts and pictures from Beijing.  While my intention here at W&C and with my Flickr account is first and foremost a personal documentation of my life... of course, I am ware there is an "audience" as well... and that's where I struggle.  Over the years of doing this, I have determined that there is a fine line of the true exuberance of sharing my adventures and paranoia that I am coming across as obnoxious about it... so when I get feedback, it certainly helps to quell the latter!

Today I going to take some inspiration from Scot who left on comment on yesterday's post and write about the atmosphere and people of Beijing.  Even after being back in the States nearly a week, my head is still spinning with stories.  In my "real life," I am encouraging people to ask me questions about Beijing and our Olympic experience.  It has been quite challenging when faced with the general "Tell me about your trip" request... that has me rambling on and down some chronological mental list!

Scot noted a "strange difference" in my China pictures and added while there was "great beauty there seems to be a lack of joy."

I have to say I have had a similar reaction while reviewing my pictures as well.  Ok, here I go with the paranoid obnoxious part ... but having been to London, Paris, Amsterdam, and now Beijing within a 6 month period (believe me I know how silly that is!)... it has been a interesting compare and contrast the cities.  London and Amsterdam struck me as very internationally mixed cities a blending of a lot of different people from different places... while that was in evidence in Paris, by far it had the strongest "national identity."  I am sure it will come as surprise to no one that Beijing was off the charts in the "identity" department.   

Part of it was... as a Caucasian, there was absolutely no ability to blend in.  Even being there at a time when they had to be hosting the most foreigners the city has ever seen, there were many, many times we could look around and be the only non-Asians in sight.  While Beijing is amazingly sprawled out (6,000+ square miles!) with high-rises everywhere... it is still people dense... 17 million residents... to put that in perspective, that's about the population of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada combined... or approximately the population of America's 3 biggest cities - NYC, LA, and Chicago... combined!   So there just isn't any comparison to anything we are used to as Americans (or I dare say, Europeans either). 

Then there is that whole Communism/oppressive government thing.  I'll admit it was odd to see military men standing at attention on streets and even highways seemingly in the middle of nowhere.  Every subway station had x-ray machines for bags... and I have been pretty vocal/frustrated by the uber-tight security around the Olympic venues and limited access to even the Olympic Green... so there was definitely a "control freak" kind of mentality in the air... but at the end of the day, I have to say it wasn't necessarily oppressive... just different.

Getting to Scot's second part of the statement (tho thinking I didn't really answer the first part)... while generally pleased with my photos I was noting to Todd just the other night that the pix lacked "pop."  The extremely humid weather conditions combo'd with infamous, but apparently succesfully temporarirly stunted  pollution... I think certainly made it seem more gloomy and lacking "joy."  We could hardly believe our eyes at some of the TV coverage of the second week of Olympic coverage where the skies appeared clear and even blue!   

But I would say there is was a vibrancy to the city... there was an incredible amount of construction and growth going on.  I used to think the amount of construction cranes in Vegas was the most I'd ever see in one place... but again, Beijing is off the charts in that department.  When it come to the numbers, China is just staggering.  And while there is the fight for space and limited resources, I did sense a sense of excitement and happiness in this growth and forward progress... granted there is that flip side, to view (or drive by) the enormous Olympic Green area with its stunning venues and remember that nearly 1 million people were displaced because of it.

And in my now ramblings on... there was always this delicate balance stuff going on. 

We had three local tour guides during our trips... and they were all wonderfully pleasant, happy people... talking about how their city has changed and what opportunities it gave them... certainly many of them never dreamed they would one day be English-speaking tour guides.  There was one particularly plucky guide who gave herself the Western name of "Lucy"... and toted along a Lucille Ball "I Love Lucy" purse... but then on the flip side, on our two trips to Tiananmen Square, both tour guides made very specific pleas to absolutely not ask them about the events of 1989 once we were on the Square.  Though that never was an issue as the Square was closed on one attempt and an abbreviated walk-thru due to a decent amount of rain on the second one.

Likewise, at the badminton venue... we were warmly greeted by rows of smiling volunteers telling us "welcome to our venue" and "enjoy our games"... but then when we headed over to the Olympic store it was absolute chaos as it was every man or woman for himself... with no lines/sense of order in the purchasing process.  It was only thanks ot a Japanese woman who first cut in front of us then yelled at the guy behind the counter to help us next that we ever got our t-shirts.  This was something we experienced time and time again... warm smiles, a true pride in the English they have learned in preparations for the Games, and over-the-top customer service and a truly genuine desire to please and welcome... but then this insane piling in and crowding craziness (let's just say my definition of "crowded" has forever changed after riding on Beijing public transportation).

So as much as Beijing is viewed as a controversial choice as an Olympic city... after being there, I am thrilled for the Chinese people.  During the torch relay protests and whispers of boycotts, I read where someone said "I will not boycott 1.6 billion people"... and that was certainly my belief before going, and definitely my belief after.   There was a great deal of pride in their hosting of the Games and I can't think of anything that makes one feel more happy than being proud of oneself and one's country... and you could sense that among the massive amount of volunteers (who had to compete to volunteer!) and certainly in the spectators in the stands very loudly cheering on their athletes.  The times when there was a Chinese Olympian on the playing field always put a smile on my face. 

Ok, I guess that should be it for now... enough rambling... so much for thinking that I would be more focused when asked a more specific question... but again, I encourage you to ask (or re-ask!) about things and I will surely do my best to reply!

Beijing Memories: The Great Wall

Since I just reviewed and uploaded my pix from the Great Wall to Flickr yesterday, I think I am just going to jump ahead and write about that today.

To be honest, China was never on my travel radar and if it had not been for this unbelievable trip, I am pretty sure we would have never gone there, despite the Great Wall being a very intriguing draw.

Though it almost didn't happen.  One of the increasingly questionable things that was not included on the original itinerary was a trip to the Great Wall... it was something that had to be arranged on our own.  Thanks to that previously mentioned savior-like administrative assistant from the Hong Kong office, a trip to the Wall at Badaling was scheduled for our free day on Monday.  Then about a week or so before our trip, we found out that Badaling (the most popular/visited part of the Wall) was closed for the first week of the Olympics... so we were pretty disappointed... and, needless to say, I vented that frustration on the Internets...

...and the power of the Internets, within minutes fellow plurker and Facebook Scramble supreme samurai vuboq, suggested the alternative of Mutianyu, saying it was a much nicer section of the Wall (which we would hear over and over again - then why go to Badaling in the first place?).  We threw out that out to the group and while it may have been the only other viable option, a trip to the Great Wall at Mutianyu was pretty quickly scheduled in.

Our day trip included a visit to a jade factory (very thinly disguised as a "cultural experience," but certainly the tour company had to be getting a $$ kickback for dropping a bus of people off at the factory - that coincidentally had a very large store with the lure of 25% of all jade purchases), a stop at Ming Tombs (resting place for 13 emperors of from the Ming Dynasty, we saw one of them), and yet another lavish lunch with an endless rotating selection of food (guessing there had to be at least 20 different dishes this time around!).

After pretty decent weather all day, the minute we got off the bus there was a good downpour.  Having had our afternoon/night of tennis washed out the previous night (more on that to come), we were starting to think that we had turned into some kind of rain gods.  It was quite humorous as the dozens upon dozens of folks selling t-shirts, souvenirs, food and drink, etc. at the base of the Wall ... quickly got out their supplies of umbrellas and rain ponchos as the first drops fell from sky. Yells of "Umbrellas!  Umbrellas!!" quickly filled the air in whatever language the person passing by looked like they would speak... and it really didn't matter if you already had an umbrella... but more on those folks a bit later.

Our tour guide bought our entry tickets - which included a round-trip cable car ride up to the Wall (all for $8 US/person, take that Disneyland!).  I asked him about one of the features that made this section of the Wall kinda unique... a return trip down via toboggan.  He didn't understand (kinda surprising, since I'm guessing he comes to Mutianyu regularly)... thinking I was saying "to bargain" with these "shop" owners (in retail situations like this, you never pay the original asking price).  I tried again, mentioning a "sled" but to no avail.  While I didn't internally let it go for awhile, I dropped it since I knew that no one else in our group would be interested.  We were the most adventurous and/or able of the bunch, which I am not sure is saying good stuff about us or a sad commentary that we could be considered adventurous or able... ha!

We got into our cable car (allegedly the same exact one used by Bill Clinton in a 1998 visit) and when we reached the top, we were met with this view:

Definitely one of those "I can't believe I'm here" moments, which I've been very fortunate to experience a couple of times in what has turned into a travel year not likely to be repeated any time soon.  This was a bit different... while I always thought I would see say the Eiffel Tower... the Great Wall was not on my possibility/probability radar... which made it even more mind-blowing.   

The fact that we took a 5-10 minute cable car ride to get to this point... that we had sweat running down our backs... that we got winded at the high elevation... that we had easy access to food and water... it was just incomprehensible to think how this was ever built... and completed in the year 1569 no less!   Again, just impossible to wrap your mind around!   

Chairman Mao was famous for saying "He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a true man" - and in our two-ish short hours at the Wall, we certainly came to understand that statement.  You don't "walk" the Great Wall, you climb... and it is challenging both going up and down... the steps are quite irregular when it comes to width, height, and depth... an even a tad more challenging being slippery from fresh rain... but again, you feel pretty darn silly stopping to catch your breath or wondering how you are going to make it back to the start when you think about the innumerable men who sacrificed their lives to build this Great Wall.

Again, I'm guessing we were the most ambitious of our group and traveled the furthest away from the start point... I'll admit I am mostly to blame, but it just got too tempting as the crowds definitely dwindled the farther away you got away from the cable car station.  Given the Badaling was closed, I was still surprised that there weren't an insane amount of people here at Mutianyu... and by the time we got to our "time to turn around" point, there were only a handful of people around us.  This picture has to be pretty close to our furthest point out...

... and we had to climb all the way up to the part of the Wall at the very top of the picture.  We took several breaks along the way... but I think we are still glad we did as much as we did.

Now, back to our little "shop" owners (I put "shop" in quotes, because they were pretty much just tents)... on the way back to the bus, you have to run the gauntlet of a seeming endless amount of people shouting at you to buy pretty much anything... though the "I Climbed The Great Wall" t-shirts, were a particularly popular item for sale.  I would have likely purchased something if it wasn't such an overwhelmingly insane environment and/or that everyone was pretty much selling the same exact items.  I could only imagine the feeding frenzy between vendors if you stopped at one booth and not the one next to it...

...and they seemed to think that if you didn't buy something from one vendor, that 5 seconds later your would want to buy the same exact item from them.  I basically tried to keep my head down and plow forward as even a glance at an item suggested a purchase intent to these folks.  One guy even got right in front of me and touch my arms to try and stop me... it wasn't in a threatening way, but still a bit over-assertive for my tastes.   The big claim was "3 shirts for 1 dollar!" ... one woman from our group did offer a person 1 US dollar, which was quickly rejected... as was 1 Yuan (which converts to a measly 16 cents US)... not exactly sure what the magic "1 dollar" was, perhaps 100 Yuan... which would still be a 3 t-shirt bargain for $US 16... but again, the crazed selling environment was certainly not my cup of tea.

It was an interesting way to end our visit to the Great Wall... but certainly didn't distract at all from the awe and wonder of what we had just seen... and I would certainly suggest that it is not on your "to do" travel list that you put in on there or move it up several notches.  As I said, in one of my picture descriptions on Flicker yesterday, I think calling this "Great" Wall may be the biggest understatement of all-time!

Rafael Nadal Officially Shirtless

We interrupt these memories from Beijing posts for breaking news...

Shirtless pictures of Rafael Nadal!

Well, we'll still get around to a bit more Beijing stuff in this post... and even though these new pix have been making the rounds, I still could not not post them... that's what I get for being on the West Coast and currently quite sleep deprived... everyone beats me to the punch... ha!

The pix are part of the "fall fashion" issue of New York magazine... though I am not sure how fall fashion involves the wearing of a short sleeve shirt... and then ditching it and wearing it around one's neck... but I am not complaining!

I am a bit surprised to see them - first Federer seems to be more "fashion" guy with his Vogue layouts and friendship with Vogue editor Anna Wintour... and second, that Rafa for some odd reason seems to be on the modest side (not the "ditch your shirt and throw it into the crowd" kind of guy ala Novak Djokovic) when it would come to doing something blatantly beefcake (but then again there were those Nike shots?). 

Anyhow, these pix can also celebrate Rafa's rise to the #1 ranking -- ending Federer's amazing 237 week run at the top... and if that wasn't enough the Spaniard also won the Olympic gold medal in Beijing.

... and speaking of Beijing (you knew that was coming!).  I finally got to see Rafa in the flesh... well, so to speak!   I will do a full post about our Olympic tennis adventures... but last Wednesday I hurried my way over to Court 1 at the Olympic Green Tennis Center the minute I saw that Rafa vs. Igor Andreev was first match of the day. 

Needless to say, I took many Rafa pix... I still have a ways to go until I get around to uploading my Olympic tennis pix to Flickr (it was pretty much the last thing we did in Beijing)... but here are a few that I will exclusively share with you here at W&C.

If at all possible, I think I became even more enamored with him after seeing him in person!

As always, if you are a Rafa fan and/or looking for more pix - I suggest hitting this link to all my Rafa posts and happy browsing!