What is in your cup?

[pdurrant]

The first Coke Zero of the day.

[Stitchawl]

Home is the hunter, home from the hill, and the Flea Marketeer home from the bazaar. We sold off another hundred dollars worth of absolute garbage. Well... not all of it was absolute. Some of it was some old leather or macreme projects I had stuffed in a drawer because they were too junky to sell but I couldn't just throw them away.

Now it's time to sit back with a mug of unbranded Keemun tea, and unwind for the evening.

Stitchawl

[desertblues]

(excerpts from my travel journal for western China; please excuse grammar and such......bad wifi and little chance/time to check it.)

(13-04 Xiáhè-Lánzhōu- Xï'ān)
Travelling today. A walk to the ticket office to buy my return for Lánzhōu.
And the last steps around the monastery: soft flute music, dark red robed monks, the gold roofs of the temples with their background of the mountains..... a quiet atmosphere.
On my final tour of the shops, I happen to see a small copper statue of Monkey, with a ( Buddhist) scroll in the hand, astride a magnificent horse. I read the medieval Chinese Classic, in which he is the principal ' Journey to the West', last year. I barter and buy it; this is meant to be......for me.

On the bus: it is a beautiful ride all the way down and the sun shines. The first hour surprises me with magnifent views on the almost bare hills. Occasionally a small golden roofed monastery halfway the slope. This is Chinese Tibetan area. On the few houses there's a small white ofen, where conifer twigs are burned. In several places are bright white stupa's, crowned with a golden ball and kind of needle. I reread the famous novel ' The good earth' from the Nobel prize winner Pearl Buck. An apt book now. She gives voice to the Chinese peasants.
When leaving this region, the land gets flatter, there's farmland, mosques build like pagoda's and much road construction. Thanks heaven the driver stops once for a break.

A cab from the bus- to the trainstation and on board the night train to Xï'ān. A dinner of dried noodles and an apple.

(14-04 Xï'ān)
Ka-dum...ka-dum......boooiiing. A night on the rails and it is morning when I arrive in Xï'ān. Sunny and 25-30 C ( in summer it will be 40 C). Breakfast, shower and with the bus to town.

This city(pop.8 mi) used to be the beginning/ end of the Silk Road in its glory days in the 10th century. The inner city is enclosed by city walls which are one of the few in China still standing. They are build in 1370 during the Ming dynasty; 12 meter high, surrounded by a dry moat and form a rectangle of 14 kilometer. One could walk or cycle these walls.....they are large enough. Originally, the ancient city is seven times larger than the modern Xī'ān.

And it is a big modern city. After the rustic Xiáhè I feel thrown back into the 21 st century. High tech shops, affluence is visible in cars, clothes, Starbucks (latte macchiato) and Hägen- Dasz ice cream ( rose flower/strawberries ice ). And fashion minded: the typical Chinese women here is 'petite' and wears cute little girlie dresses with frills and multi layered short dreses. But.....hardly a bare leg/ shoulder in sight; all covered up by pantyhose or such.
The bus to the center is cheap, 1 juan (ca. 10 eurocts). The Bell Tower and Drum Tower are in the middle of it. These two towers held the large bell that was rung at dawn and the drum, which marked nightfall, in ancient times. After the last drums at night, the gates were closed. They're both from the 14th century, rebuild in the 17th century. In both is a small museum with drums/ bells. Interesting. As it's sunday today there're lots of folks.

In the middle of this modern inner city is the Muslim Quarter. Muslims have been here since the 7th century and it is quite another atmosphere all of a sudden. Narrow streets overflowing with tiny shops and eating houses. There's no pork to be had of course, but almost all other things that are edible are fried, skewered and barbecued or sold in a bag. I see masses of tea stalls with round 'plates' of purr- eh tea, hacked sugared squares of sesameseeds, fruitjuices, dumplings filled with all that it can hold, bowls of fresh noodles, quail eggs on a stick, normal and black eggs(thousand year egg?). On this market large walnuts twirl around in a huge bowl, half filled with sand, to be roasted and cleaned, I guess. As expected there's masses of souvenirs of the Terracotta Army to be had, but also glittering hairpins, Chinese brocade, scarves, things made of bone like combs and copper statues of pagodes, ' jade' necklaces, walnut armbands and such. Very tiny embroidered red baby slippers.....ah...

In the center of this quarter is the Great Mosque. The building of it begins in 742 A.D., during the ( elegant) Tang dynasty. It is restored and widened in the subsequent centuries. It is one of the largest in China; it covers about 13,000 sq.meters.
There are four different courtyards with trees, small pagodas, different plants in pots, historic tablets, ancient sun dials and gateways. The Chinese aspect is the gardens with rocks, pagodas and archways with fine brick carvings. On some pavillions there are decorations of dragons on the slanted roofs. all slanted roofs are decorated. The central minaret is disguised as a pagoda, with two storeys. Islamic is the turquoise glazed roof of the Prayer Hall and the elegant calligraphy on most entrances.
This is such a beautiful complex, this mix of Chinese and Islamic archtecture. It is an oasis of tranquility in the middle of the Muslim Quarter. I walk its courtyards for quite some time; tiny birds chirping. Yes, I know, it sounds a bit too much, but really, it's like walking through some painting. Beautiful and restful.

For one juan the bus back: after Starbucks and Hägen- Dasz earlier today= one million calories........ I have bananas and nescafé for dinner.

In my cup: a Chinese beer

[kindlekitten]

Breathtaking!

[ProfCrash]

Vanilla Chai in skim milk. It is gorgeous out but Lucas is sick so we can't go out and enjoy the weather. I just wish we could explain to him that the medicine will make him feel better soon.

[orlok]

The last of a glass of Rioja before I retire to bed with my Kindle .

[dreams]

Hi Betty. I hope all is going well with settling into your new place.
desertblues, another fantastic post. Thank you so much for sharing your travels for me to have "arm chair" experiences.
ProfCrash - I hope Lucas feels well soon. It is always so hard when the little one is not feeling well.
Stitchawl - earthquakes and flea markets, such varied experiences, as always. I hope you don't have to worry about quakes where you are moving.

Nothing in my cup, so I am getting up to brew a fresh cup of coffee and decide what to read.

[Stitchawl]

I remember Grandpa telling me that I was born as the
sun was comin' up early in the morn.
Told me I was born early in the morn.

When you lift your eyes and see the sun a-risin' on
the far horizon early in the mornin'.
It was early in the day when I set out to roam.
Kissed my love and went
to seek my fortune far from home.
I set out to roam far away from home.

When you lift your eyes and see the sun a-risin' on
the far horizon early in the mornin'.

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRoWjhlxlp0 )

Good morning, everyone! Early Monday and lots to do! Getting an early start on the day so I can get it all in; take the motorcycle to the shop to get if ready for selling (I want to remove the GPS mounting bracket and attachment, and the hi-tec alarm system I installed,) then it's off for an 8km speed walk (I put a bunch of fast bagpipe tunes into my iPhone... NOTHING makes me walk faster than fast bagpipe tunes! Not sure if I'm walking 'with' them or trying to 'get away' from them...) Then it's a meeting with a friend this afternoon to help him correct a presentation he has to make in English. The fellow is the head of design engineering in one of Panasonic's departments, and I can't tell you how much I've learned about electronics from this guy, just helping with his various presentations around the world.

Originally Posted by desertblues

For one juan the bus back: after Starbucks and Hägen- Dasz earlier today= one million calories........ I have bananas and nescafé for dinner.
In my cup: a Chinese beer

Isn't it such a wonderfully strange feeling to be sitting in a Starbucks looking out the window at a temple that is hundreds of years old. The mix of old and new always fascinates me! I shot this photo the other day with my phone, just because I loved seeing the woman in the Kimono and the Rock Star guitar player right behind her. Old and new on the train platform!

Originally Posted by dreams

Stitchawl - earthquakes and flea markets, such varied experiences, as always. I hope you don't have to worry about quakes where you are moving.

Actually, there are quakes all over Asia all the time, but usually so small you can't feel them. Some folks said they 'thought' they felt one last week in the area we're moving to, but generally quakes aren't a problem there. Typhoons, flooding, cobras, and Dengue Fever are all we'll need to put up with. But we know which side of town to live on to avoid the floods, have plenty of mosquito repellent to 'try' to avoid Dengue, and cobras aren't a problem if you watch where you step. The only thing we can't control are the Typhoons, but being in the mountains, even they aren't much more than super rain storms.

Time for one more cup of tea, then it's out into a new week!


Stitchawl

[kindlekitten]

Is it cost prohibitive to ship your bike?

[cromag]

Just finishing my last mug of tea with dinner.

[ProfCrash]

Lucas is feeling better. His fever has been under 101 all day. He has had a good day, playing on his own and only calling for Mom or Dad when really tired or hungry. We are keeping him home from day care tomorrow to give him another day with the antibiotic.

Drinking an Oberon to go with the bean and rice burritos I made. I am working on healthy meals I can make that we can easily blend and share with Lucas. This week was burritos, vegtable basil soup, and baked turkey meatballs. All easy to reheat during the week, healthy, and shareable.

[CRussel]

Wasted day, watching the Masters. But I enjoyed it. And drank about 2 quarts of tea. Today was mostly Yin Jun Mei Souchong, a very light Lapsang Souchong type. Quite nice, actually, but not if you're looking for heavy smoke.

This evening I made a scallop risotto, and we had a bottle of the 2011 La Frenz Chardonnay. A very nice treat.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

Is it cost prohibitive to ship your bike?

That depends on your definition of 'prohibitive.'
The actual shipping costs would be less than 1/4 of a container, if that much. About as much as our personal stuff we'll be shipping. (A 'container' being one of those metal boxes you see loaded onto 18-wheelers. Together probably about 1/3 of a container. Not really that expensive. Not cheap. But not ridiculous...

But Thailand charges Import Duties on EVERYTHING. And I mean EVERYTHING. You pay customs charges on used underwear, half bottles of mustard, old paperback books, and everything else you can think of. They have HUGE books full of the % to pay on every item you can imagine. Unfortunately, often that percentage is 300%-400% of the retail cost of an new item... as in the case of cars or motorcycles. When we move there the last time, we shipped about 30 boxes of household stuff, (about as much as would fit in an old VW microbus) and was hit with a Import Duty of $12,000 USD.
Fortunately, if you are an old Asia hand, you know that all that is needed is to find the right person to give a little 'gift' to... and so we paid a $30 USD gift to one official and a $20 USD gift to another official and onl $450 USD to Customs and That was easy because everything was in sealed shipping boxes. No one could see inside. A motorcycle would be different. It would be assessed at about $60,000 USD import tax, and because it's visible, a lot more people would have to be paid off and at a higher rate to get it down, and probably only down to about the cost of a new bike.

In Thailand, you can pay your way out of a speeding ticket (about $5) or a murder charge, but that costs more.


Stitchawl

[maianhvk]

@ Blues: The monk (and horse) statue is a great coincident! Did you see the other 3 characters as well?

[CRussel]

Peet's Holiday Breakfast Blend tea (from 2012). An acceptable, but not exciting, morning blend. I've still got a 1/3rd of a tin, but not sure I'll manage to finish it.