My children are really my best travel companions. They have an unlimited sense of wonder and are willing to try anything. It was a culture shock being in Xiamen having no one there understand English or speak it. Simple things like dining out or going to a shopping area has to be implemented with much detail. But they enjoyed being there and being surrounded by new things.
Getting lost going to Jiali seafood restaurant because taxi drivers don't understand our english nor the hotel calligraphy...the panorama of impressive buildings, towers and skyways lit up in different colored lights...."Dragon by the sea" that's what they call it....sights.smells and sounds in the Nanputuo temple....incense, giant buddha statues, bells and gongs, chants, ....why so many beggars with rotting or amputated limbs, burnt bodies or faces.... a faceless man playing haunting strains with his lute at the corner of the temple.... the quaintness of Gulangyu island... the piano museum, the beautiful gardens, the cobblestone paths, the old mansions with so much history...shopping along Zhongsan Road...eating alley ham-egg pancakes for Y3 each....tasting the famous peanut soup and nice cheap dimsum along zhongsan road... beijing olympics mascot.... fine dining at The House, Italian cuisine in an old house along Baihe Lu....
Sept.25,2008
