In the garden

It was warm, but not hot, sunny and not hazy, and generally a beautiful day. We headed out earlier than usual and caught the subway to the end of line 10 and then grabbed a taxi to the botanical gardens. We arrived before 11:00 am, but it was already getting busy.

The gardens are just outside Beijing city limits. The grounds are quite large so we managed to find some peace along smaller pathways and less traveled routes. There were sections of the garden that were very well manicured while other sections were more wild. Although still quite lovely at this time of year, I image that it is truly stunning in the spring. There are areas where peonies, lilacs, roses, and fruit trees would bloom at that time of year, and I imagined the smell would be so sweet.


We found a quiet little spot near a small lake and pulled out of our knapsack fixings for sandwiches. The kids played for a bit before we moved on. We meandered through the pathways until we found a Chinese style gazebo. There we took a break and played Yahtzee for a bit and read our books. After a while we picked up again and took a peak at the Reclining Buddha Temple near the back of the garden.

On our way back through we stopped for some tea at a tea house. I read a little from "The Secret Garden". I've been reading it to the girls in the evenings before bed and we thought it was the perfect place to read a chapter. When Nadim went to go pay for the tea, he was in for a shock. We hadn't asked the price and they had suckered us into getting the most expensive tea, which was $30 Canadian! Nadim argued with them. Kind of hard to do since they don't speak English and we don't speak Chinese. Eventually he payed them the equivalent of $15 Canadian which he thought was more than reasonable.

We made our way back to the city with its honking horns and cars that don't yield to pedestrians, and busy subway trains. We were a little late in meeting the local kids at the park, but they were still waiting for us. It really was a great day, and a much appreciated break from the big city.

CM

Dinosaurs

We left the house around noon today, and decided to have lunch on the way to the subway. We stopped at a take-out window. They make fresh bread, which is similar to Indian naan, but cooked on a hot skillet. The bread is round and it is stuffed with herbs, mystery meat and some sauce. The kids like it and call it Chinese pizza! We also got some bread stuffed with something sweet, which we had for dessert. We all enjoyed, and it cost us less than $2 CDN!



Today's trip was to the Natural History Museum, where dinosaurs were the main attraction. The dinosaur skeletons were spectacular, and there was a section on what the dinosaurs would have looked like when they ruled the earth! Although we enjoyed the dinosaur exhibit, the other parts of the museum did not hold our interest. We checked out the ancient mammals and ocean creatures sections and then decided to leave. We got back to the nearby park and the kids were waiting for us to play tag again! They love that game.

NM

China Day

Today is China's national holiday. We were told that people have a day off and the subway, or perhaps only the Tiananmen Square stop of the subway is closed.

We were ready for a day home anyway, so it was a good excuse to stay around "home" and not deal with traffic and people congestion.

We slept in a little because the kids were late going to bed last night. We got through our studies and had some lunch and headed over to the park. The first pictue is taken from our bedroom window. The green area is the park nearby and you can see the mass of buidings beyond it, that is Beijing.

We spent the early part of the afternoon having a stroll aound the park and then finding a spot in the sun to read while the kids played with their new racquets. After we tired of that we went back to the apartment to do a little research and planning for the next leg of the trip.

Before we knew it, it was time to meet our new friends in the park. In the top row you can see Wendy, Yasmin and Roya and in the bottom there was a new girl, Susan, Jim and Jen. Brian had to go to his grandmother's house today so he was absent. They played tag again, but this time we asked them to teach us their version. It was similar to freeze tag, but when "it" comes close you have to stop put your hands together and say a three word sentence. If you do, you're safe, but you're frozen until a free friend touches you. The favourite sentence seemed to be "I love you." I also thought it funny that the most common question we would hear was "Who's tag?"

So now that you know what our apartment looks like from the inside, perhaps you should see the outside.

This shot was taken from the entrance to the park. Our building is R. In the background, if you look closely you can see a bit of the Olympic Bird's Nest stadium.

We're surrounded by very large buildings, but surprisingly we are starting to bump into people that we've already met. We waved to the guy that we met at the ping pong tables as we walked along the street the other day and Nadim met someone we had chatted with at the park in the grocery store. It makes us feel a bit at home. Strange in such a large city.

CM

Temple of Heaven

We headed off to the Temple of Heaven after we completed most of our school work. We wanted an early start so we could be back to meet our new friends in the park at 4:00.


The Temple of Heaven was used to ask God for a good harvest. The emperor would come here and read the special tablets at certain times of the year.

This temple had a handful of main buildings, but the grounds surrounding the double walled temple were very large. In fact the area of the Temple of Heaven is four times that of the Forbidden City, or so my automatic guide told me.

The grounds surrounding the main buiding were full of very old juniper and cypress trees. Some were over five hundred years old! There were also a lot of people on the grounds just out enjoying the day. It was a picnic atmosphere. Some people were grouped together and dancing. Others were using a long outdoor corridor for singing in. And others seemed to be just out for a stroll.

We saw the main buildings of the temple, which of course were very ornately decorated. There were a lot of people out so it was difficult to get a good view of the inside of them. By this time we kind of feel like one building is similar to the others, and we actually enjoyed strolling through the grounds better.


We stopped and let the kids play with a tai chi racquet and ball that we got conned into buying. We listened to some music and singing. The weather was warm so it was perfect to just enjoy the day.

Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the subway and make our way to our nearby park where we were to meet our new friends. We were a bit late, but they were still there waiting for us. We played a lot of tag, and we taught them how to play SPUD. The kids loved tag, but always wanted me to join in the game, so between the walking and the game of tag, I really got my exercise today!

We headed home and finished our school work and then we went out for dinner. After looking through the menu, we decided to skip the beef hoof, toad, and grilled donkey meat. We were tempted by the frog, but the server thought it would be too spicy for us. We settled on a peanut chicken dish, shrimp and asparagus, deep fried pumpkin coated with egg yolk, and sechuan chicken. It was all very tasty and we walked home with full bellies and some left-overs. I thought I might have been losing some weight with all this walking, but perhaps I gained back what I might have lost during supper tonight!

CM

Puppet Theatre and Friends

We did home schooling as usual this morning, and then ventured out to find the China Puppet Theatre after lunch. This was a bit more of an adventure than planned...

We decided to make our way to subway line 8 rather than line 5 as it seemed like a shorter trip. Line 8 was used for the Olympic venues. Off we went and after about 25 minutes of walking we found line 8, but it was closed! Ahhh.

We ended up having to walk there. So after an hour and a half from the time we left the house we eventually arrived. We stopped and asked directions but the guy didn't speak English, of course. Nadim was starting to act out "puppet theatre" (kind of entertaining), but a passerby stopped. He could speak English and was able to point us in the right direction.

Eventually we went to our show. It was all in Chinese, but we kind of got the gist of it and the puppets were really entertaining. They were so detailed, and they could make them look so life like!

The girls seemed to enjoy it, although Yasmin was trying to convince us to get them to switch it to English. A little difficult!

The trip home was much shorter. We stopped at the park on the way home and for the first time there was a group of kids there that were Yasmin and Roya's age. Yasmin was quite excited about it , but too shy to make friends. Within five minutes the group of kids left and Yasmin was very sad. She said she missed her friends back home. She had tears in her eyes and it nearly broke my heart. After a hug, I suggested we play tag. This seemed to cheer her up, and then there was a little boy at the park and the girls started to play follow the leader with him.

The best part was that after about 20 minutes the older kids came back! The girls were still shy but eventually we got the kids to start playing tag with us. Our first couple of attempts failed because they didn't know how to play! After we told them how the game works, things went much better. We played tag and climbed on the play structures until it got dark and it was well past supper time. The girls were so happy to have some new friends that I didn't have the heart to stop their fun. As we were all leaving, we managed to make plans to meet in the park again tomorrow.

We got home and I made tortillas from scratch, and we had burritos. The sauce was also from scratch. The girls were quite happy because this is one of their favourite meals, but we hadn't been able to find refried beans or flat bread. A lot more work than at home, but well worth it. The kids went to bed with big smiles after such a great day.

CM

Explora Science

Nadim and I were still sniffling this morning, but decided that we were well enough to get out for a bit. Thankfully the girls are still healthy. Hopefully it will pass them by.

We made our way to Sony Explora Science. It's a hands on science centre. We did experiments with light, and sound. We saw our shadows in different colors of the light spectrum, had a demo of how they make color TV, went in an echo room where we spoke into a microphone and could hear what it would sound like if we were speaking from a mountain top, a subway, a church, or other spaces. We also had a visual of our voices, and could replay bits and clips of it. We stood at a table and made shadows on it with our hands, and depending on the shape of the shadow a different image of an animal would come onto the table. Pretty cool stuff.

We also saw some experiments. Try this: Fill a glass with water. Put it on top of a coin. Look from the side of the glass. You can't see the coin that the glass is sitting on. Then put some water on the coin and put the glass on top of the water and coin. This time you can see the coin when looking from the side of the glass! It was a fun and educational experience. The kids had a great time.

CM

Olympic Stadiums

Tonight after supper we went for a walk. I wanted to see the Water Cube up close. It's a ten minute walk from our building, but the Olympics site is still fenced in. We walked around the outside of the complex and eventually found a spot where people were being let in.

A volunteer gave us a voucher to get into the complex so we went in. It was amazing. The Bird's Nest was first. We could get up quite close to it, but couldn't go in either building.

In between the buildings there was music playing and there were strips of light in the plaza walk way. The light kept changing colors. Very cool.

There was also rows of fountains coming out of the ground. These fountains were moving with the music. We watched some people taking pictures and running into the fountains. Before we knew it, it was too tempting. We had to see if we could get to the other side before they changed directions and sprayed us. The girls had great fun.

The Water Cube is a pretty unique building. It is actually bubbly on the outside. Nadim (Mr. Engineer) figured that they had metal framing for the wall skeleton, but the skin is made of heavy plastic with air blown into it.

It was great to get out for a stroll tonight, and amazing to walk the grounds where so many of our Olympic heroes went before us.

CM

The apartment

This morning Nadim and I woke up with the sniffles. I had a sore throat and a very runny nose. Nadim was a bit congested too. It's nothing serious, but we didn't feel like sight seeing, so we stayed close to home. We went to the park, did some groceries and played Yahtzee at the dining room table.
I thought I should post some pictures of our apartment so that you can get an idea of where we are staying.

This first picture is of the girls' bedroom. Our bedroom is similar, except it has two beds pushed together. The beds are very firm, but that's the way we like it, so it works for us.

There isn't much space in the bedrooms - just enough for the beds and a small dresser.


Our living room and dining area are combined. In the picture you can just see the back of the chair where our dining area is. We've got a TV and a desk too. We get a few English movie channels, which Nadim enjoys and the desk has been great for organizing the school work for the kids.

The girls usually have their Polly Pockets, and Littlest Petshop toys spread everywhere. Or at least until I get annoyed and make them clean it up a bit.


The kitchen is pretty small. We have a gas stove and a microwave. There is also a hot plate that we've not really used. It came equipped with plates, bowls, glasses, cups and cutlery for four. No dishwasher, so we're washing up after each meal.

We also have a clothes washer in the kitchen. That's been handy. We don't have a dryer so our dry fit clothes are working out really well. The cotton clothes dry overnight too, so it really hasn't been an issue.

We really like the location of our apartment. It's a 15-20 minute walk to the subway station, which is convenient for getting around, but it's also far enough from downtown that there are a couple of parks within a 5-10 minute walk. The shopping center and post office are also within a 10 minute walk. We're certainly getting our exercise without a vehicle to get us around.

Hopefully we'll feel better tomorrow and will feel like going out adventuring again.

CM

Tiananmen Square

After the morning home schooling session, we set off to find the ExploraScience Centre, so we could check out dinosaur bones and other fun things. On the way to the subway station, we stopped at the "ping pong park" to do some exercises on the equipment. After a 10-minute exercise break, we headed off again. The information we had found said the science centre was at the Oriental Plaza, so that's where we went. However, far from being a science museum, it was a high-end shopping mall! We asked at the mall information booth and they had no idea what we were talking about!

We went out on the street and a passerby, who must have seen our bewildered faces, asked if she could help us. She too had no idea where this crazy science centre was, and she even "called a friend", but the best she could do was to direct us to the Museum of Natural History. By this point, we had realized how close we were to Tiananmen Square, so we decided to go there instead and go to the science centre another day, after we figure out exactly where it is!


Let me start by saying that Tiananmen Square is HUGE! The square is surrounded by China's government buildings and the National Museum. On one side was a sculpted garden depicting the Olympic mascots, and on the opposite side was another sculpted garden. We had a liesurely walk around the square and were stopped 10 times (the kids were counting!) by people who wanted their picture taken with Yasmin and Roya. We were teasing them, saying this is probably how Hanna Montana feels when she goes out! Yasmin was particulrly enamoured with being famous!

On the way home, the subway was busy, and we took some pictures of the crowds, so you can get a feel of what it's like. This shot is taken at 2:30 on Friday afternoon. I can hardly imagine what rush hour must look like.

NM + CM

A walk in the park

We decided to take it easy today and just hang around the neighbourhood. After some home schooling, we walked to a nearby park - the same one where we had seen the ping pong players. We used some of the exercise equipment and watched the ping pong games for a while.


Then we moved on to another area, where we noticed people were dancing. We did not recognize the beats of the first song, but then they played what sounded like a cha-cha. So we used our dancing lessons and did a little cha-cha. We felt like stars because we gained quite an audience! Someone even video taped us dancing :-) This offered an opportunity for us to speak to a few people. One of the ladies came over and invited Christina to dance with her. They danced a Chinese style dance and Christina was pretty quick to pick it up!

After the park, we stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things. I saw packages of frozen meat on skewers that looked interesting, but wasn't sure what kind of meat they were. So I asked the attendant if it was beef, but he did not know English. He was about to go get someone to help, but I stopped him and said "Mooo?" He lauged and answered "No, Baaa!" I guess they were lamb skewers!

After lunch and some more home schooling, we went to the nearby park with books in hand. The girls played and we read our books for a bit. We ended up meeting an older gentleman who was learning English. He was happy to practise with us. Although retired, he has taught himself to read and speak English by listening to voice recordings and following a Beijing University English book. He dedicates 3 to 4 hours a day to English practice. Our English lesson to him did not come free - we asked him to teach us how to say and write numbers in Chinese. We had a good laugh over our attempts to pronounce the words with the right tone. He also wrote Yasmin and Roya's names in Chinese, and told them they had to learn their Chinese numbers.

NM + CM

Train Tickets

It was rainy and cool this morning so we had a slow morning of home schooling and then we decided to go book our train tickets to Hong Kong. We don't leave until Oct 13, but we wanted to get them booked because Nadim was afraid of the train filling up. We couldn't book them from home because they only go on sale 20 days prior to the departure date.So, off we went to the subway.

It was a long trip because we were going from the northeast end of town to the southwest part of town where the train station is. Once we exit the subway there are no English signs as usual, so we start following a guy pulling a suitcase. Sure enough this leads us to the train station. We find our way to a sea of people waiting in line to buy tickets. China's national holiday is coming up and everyone seems to be going somewhere.

We wait in a line that says "English speaking agent". Excellent, we thought, until we get to the agent and she doesn't speak English! She directs us to another line that claims to have an English speaking agent, and we think we're in luck because this one speaks broken English. We try to get our tickets, but she tells us that they don't come on sale until 7:00 tonight. It's only 1:30 at this point.... Do we stay around for another 5 hours, or do we go home and make the 1 hour and 20 minute trip (that includes walking to and from the subway as well as the ride itself) again tomorrow. Uggg!

Off we went for some lunch, and to study our map and make a plan. On the way to lunch we stopped at a large hotel and got a concierge who spoke English fairly well to write down in Chinese our destination, departure date, and the type of tickets we wanted (soft sleeper, which is two bunk beds in a private room). We weren't leaving anything to chance for our next visit to a ticket agent!

There was a KFC across the street and the girls were interested in that so we thought we'd see if the food was the same. It was NOT! The bun might have been the same and perhaps the fries if they had have been hot, but the meat quality and crispiness left a lot to be desired.

After a quick look at the map we decide to walk back towards the subway where there is a park. It's stopped raining by that time, but it was still cool. We stopped along the way to check out some shops and burn some time.

The park had an exercise area where they had places to stretch, bars, some interesting equipment that you use your own body for the weights. The girls had a great time and we enjoyed people watching. I think they enjoyed watching us too.

Beijingers seem to exercise for a few minutes on their way to where ever they're going. They are often dressed in work clothes or other non-workout gear when they do their exercises. Funny to think of us North Americans and all the work out and sports gear that we invest in.

Eventually we made our way back to the station and booked our tickets. By this time it was fully dark outside. We walked back to the subway and made our way home arriving just before 9:00 pm. The kids went straight to bed. They were really tired, but this is a good thing because it means that they probably won't wake at 4:00 am as they had been because of the time change.

Tomorrow we are planning a slow day. I think it's supposed to rain again.

CM

Lama Temple

We went for a site-seeing tour, but came back feeling more spiritual. The Lama Temple was previously a palace, but was later converted to a Lama Temple. The emperor wished to unite the country and saw this gesture as a means of doing that.

I felt that the buildings were very similar in style to those in the Forbidden City, or at least to the smaller ones. I could certainly see that it was previously a palace, which made it difficult to view as a temple. However, there were many people paying respects to Buddha by lighting incense and praying. I had been unaware that there were so many differnt Buddhas. It is really a station as well as a person.

There were many gold statues of Buddhas representing the past, present, future, healing, virtues, etc. The most impressive was a standing, golden Buddha that was 55 feet tall.

On the way home we stopped at a different park and watched some people spinning tops using two sticks with string attached. As they spun faster and faster the top would make whistling sounds. They would almost dance with the string and top. Check the video below - it was very interesting to watch. We also stopped to see ping pong players. We were invited to join, but declined because they looked too good at it. Maybe next time.

CM + NM

Zoo & Aquarium

After our regular chores of school work we headed off to the Blue Zoo and Aquarium. The subway ride was old hat by this time. Not even the slightest bit of panic. We got off and headed for the zoo, picked up a lift from a bicylce rickshaw. It was another hot day, but th zoo had a fair bit of shade so it was okay.

The zoo itself was a bit dated and I felt sorry for some of the animals that seemed overcrowded or in cages that seemed a far cry from their natural habitat.

We didn't make it all the way through the zoo because we wanted to get to the aquarium which had such great reviews. It was a lot of fun. There was a huge shark tank with a few concave bubbles that you could stick your head in and then you felt like you were in the tank too. Very cool. Yasmin and Roya made some pretty funny fish lips for some of the displays, and they really enjoyed the dolphin show at the end.

Fun was had by all and I was a bit worried about getting back before subway rush hour started. We got to the subway by about 4:00, but the first train we got was almost empty! It soon filled up, but at least we got seats. We took it to a stop near where Arthur owns a Vietnamese restaurant and he picked us up there. We had to borrow a phone from some young men, because the public phones wouldn't take our calling cards. The guys were really friendly about it, so all worked out well. We gave them some Canadian flag stickers to say thank you! They were pretty happy about them.

Tonight's meal was wonderful. We had spring rolls, sugar cane wrapped with shrimp, other rolls, rice with chicken, Vietnamese soups and special fruit drinks. All was delicious. We ate too much yet again.

Afterwards we went to this cool square where high above our heads there was a huge horizontal screen that looked like an ocean with fish, dolphins, sting rays and other ocean life swimming in it above our heads. Kind of freaky but a lot of fun. We also took a drive through Beijing at night and saw the Forbidden City all lit up, with coloured lights behind the fountains. The sky scrapers have really interesting architecture. Nadim was admiring the engineering of them. This city is enormous. I read that it sprawls to the size of Belgium! You can drive for half an hour and the sky scrapers are just as big as where you started.

Well, I'm feeling the time change again, time to go find my PJs.

CM

Beijing Roast Duck

We had an awesome night out in Beijing. We had a ton of food of different sorts. Our friend Arthur invited us to a very nice family restaurant, which specializes in Peking / Beijing Duck.

Arthur was a great host and ordered the food for all of us. There was way too much food for us to eat it all, perhaps this is the Chinese custom. We will describe the menu for all you Canadians:

Appetizers: Cold sliced duck liver, and duck feet in mustard sauce. The liver was great, and the duck feet tasted good, although the consistency was a little chewy.

Soup: Beef strips, bean sprouts, other sprouts, carrots and sliced jalapenos in a spicy broth. We all enjoyed the soup very much.


Main courses: Famous Beijing roast duck, sliced at the table. This was eaten on a flat bread (similar to a fajita), with a really tasty brown sauce, onion and cucumber strips, all rolled up. The skin was crunchy and the meat was quite tender. We all enjoyed very much. Roya was having a particularly good time making her roll. They brought the best part of the duck (from the head) on a separate plate for us to enjoy.

Sliced duck in a brown sauce, including duck liver, gizzards and hearts. Very tasty!

Steamed broccoli, with some kind of seasoning which we are not sure what it was, but quite good.

Shrimp, with the shell and head still attached. Arthur was much more skilled at peeling them than we were!

Dessert: pastries with a sweet, custard-like filling. Arthur got them mainly for the girls, but we enjoyed them too.

We were served Chinese tea throughout the meal. The girls enjoyed having a lazy Susan on the table, and liked trying out the chopsticks. Roya is particularly adept with them now.

The food was very rich and filling. Certainly different from the Canadianized Chinese food we get at home! I can't believe Arthur's generosity. He was the perfect host. I hope that we can repay him in some fashion.


CM + NM

The park nearby

We explored the park near our apartment this morning. It's a combination of bamboo-lined pathways, gardens, and small pools of water. There is also a small play park in one area. There is something for all of us to enjoy. There was a man-made waterfall that was quite beautiful (see below).



We found a beautifully painted, ancient-style gazebo wth gold dragons painted around the ceiling. The picture doesn't do it justice.



The girls enjoyed the monkey bars. They pretended they were firefighters, and slid down the poles to their fire trucks, and off to rescue kittens caught in trees. It was a very busy fire department! At the play area, we chatted with another Chinese family and everyone was very friendly and interested in the girls - the attraction is not only their western looks, but also their being twins.



Later in the day, we went to the market again and had a rather lazy afternoon. It was raining, so we didn't feel bad about not being outside.

NM + CM

Forbidden City welcomes Canadian family

We ventured out on the subway today, to find our way to Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, etc. We walked for about 20 minutes to get to the subway line 5, paid our 2 RMB per person and went in (pretty good deal for about $1.60 CAD for the whole family!). We switched trains to the line 1 at the 9th stop, and then got off at the 2nd stop, which was at Tiananmen Sq. The entire subway ride took about 35 minutes, and the trains were quite crowded. The trains were mostly standing-room only, with very few seats installed, and some cars had no seats. It was so crowded on the return trip that we had to rely on other passengers to keep us standing, since there was no hand rail either. It was exciting to be able to find our way through the streets, underground pedestrian walkways, Chinese street names, etc. and manage to get back to the apartment without incident!

The grounds of the Forbidden City are huge! There are several gates, outer buildings and annexes, and it took us a good 3 hours to go through it. And we skipped many of the side buildings because the kids were getting tired of walking. You could easily spend the whole day there. It was also very crowded. You could really get an appreciation of the population of Beijing by being there.

We were stopped at least 3 times by people asking if they could take their pictures with the girls! I said "Okay, but we want a picture with your family too!" And we did take a photo with them. Everyone had a good laugh. At one point we were sitting on benches near the Imperial Garden and the kids were eating ice cream, and a lady sat down beside Roya, put her hand around Roya's shoulders and asked if she could have a picture! We get quite a few looks when we go for walks, especially Christina and Yasmin with their light-coloured hair. The people are super friendly and ready to help. If they don't speak English, they will find someone who does!

Now we are back in the apartment and everyone is tired out. Stirfry and rice for dinner, then off to bed. More updates to follow - stay tuned.

NM (is that better, GS?)

Settling In

This morning the girls woke up at 3:00am and started playing. I told them they had to try to sleep longer, but they were not too happy with me. Eventually we all got up around 5:30. The morning went really well and we all felt great, but by lunch time we were all feeling the time change. We had shortish naps and the kids went to bed before 7:00. Poor Yasmin was so tired she could hardly eat her supper.

With the early start, our school work was done early and we went off for a walk and then to the shopping centre. On our walk we saw the bird's nest from the Olympics. It looks quite strange up close.

At the shopping centre we found a map of Beijing and then made our way through the grocery store. We bought some noodles that had no English writting on them. The picture looked good. It was one of those that you just add water to. We later enjoyed them for lunch. The rest of the store was strange in many ways as well. They had fish heads and silk worms, although we didn't buy any. We didn't find any cheese or sandwich meats, so we may just go out for lunch tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, I think we will try the subway for a trip to the Forbidden City and Tianamen Square. We think we found oursleves on the map and we've got our address written out in Chinese characters so we should be okay.

CM

Hello Beijing

Take two was successful. There was a slight delay in Vancouver, but we arrived safely in Beijing although it was a day and an hour behind schedule!

We did have a great surprise at the airport. Nadim's friend gave us a contact in Beijing and he managed to track us down and pick us up, even though we were a day late. He borrowed his friend's car to pick us up because there are still restrictionson how many cars can be on the road and today it was a even number day, meaning only cars with the last number on the license plate with an even number are allowed on the road. Arthur, our new best friend in China has even invited us for dinner one night this week. We're pretty excited to get into the real way of life of the Chinese, rather than just see the tourist sites.

The apartment is nothing fancy, but it is clean and functional. The kids have their own room. We just put them to bed so we will see how they sleep tonight. I'm sure we will all be off for a few nights as we adjust to the 12 hour time difference.

Nadim went out to a nearby supermarket and bought some bottled water and breakfast goods. He was excited about the fruit prices - Cheap and lots of variety! Nadim's loving this country already. I stayed back with the girls and got some things unpacked. I'm looking forward to getting out to explore tomorrow.

It's very warm here, and I thik I can notice the difference in the air quality. I'm sure we'll adjust. It's supposed to be high twenties for the rest of the week. A little warmer than Ottawa!

The flight was really long. We were on the plane for 13 hours including the wait on the runway. It was really, really, really, long. There's only so many movies, or TV shows you can watch and reading only keeps you happy for so long. I didn't sleep much, but the kids had a couple of hours and Nadim slept a fair bit too. I guess the lack of sleep will just help us get back to the right time schedule that much easier.

CM

False Start

We said our good-byes last night. Emotions were running high. Roya spilled a few tears and I was a little teary eyed myself. We woke up early this morning the mood was a combination of nervousness and excitement. Off we went to the airport and onto the plane we went. Then the captain announces a 25 minute delay. We only have a one hour stop in Vancouver to change planes so this makes us a bit nervous. Then we get another message - another delay of 30 minutes. The flight attendent says that we might be able to make up some time in the air, but by the third message we know we're not going to make our connecting flight to Beijing. Eventually they unload the plane and replace it with a smaller one and we try to get on a flight to Toronto and from there to Beijing, but then that flight is canceled too! They announce that the plane is too small for everyone and that the Beijing passengers get to stay behind. Ahhhh

Perhaps surprisingly we're still smiling. Take two happens tomorrow morning, but this time we leave on a slightly earlier flight, giving us 3 hours to make our transfer in Vancouver. I'm really not that upset. We're all packed, we've said our good-byes, so take two will be a little less stressful (I hope). So tonight we put the kids to bed early, and have a good night's sleep, and try to remain calm and relaxed. Hmmm... I wonder what's on TV tonight.

CM

Packing

I hate packing! But the house is now packed up and so are our bags. The house wasn't too bad because Krista and Pat are taking the house furnished so most of it is staying, but of course there needs to be room for some of their personal items and our dressers and closets had to be cleaned out.

So most of this was done last week and today was the day we stuff all the things that we're taking with us into suitcases. Those few remaining items that seemed like nothing as they hung so lonely in the closet seemed to expand and explode as we tried to squeeze them into suitcases. So how many did we end up with? Three medium suitcases, one small suitcase (a carry on that won't be carried on), and three back packs.

It's done, I'm tired, and the plane leaves tomorrow morning at 9:00 am. Seems impossible that the journey is finally beginning.

CM

Hair cut

About a year ago I thought I thought I should grow out my hair so that while away I wouldn't have to worry about getting it cut so often. This seemed like a good plan at the time, but the in-between stage lasts so long and here we are a year later and it still wasn't long enough for a pony tail.

So this morning I was fussing in front of the mirror (something I don't induldge in too often), and asked Nadim if he thought I looked younger with shorter hair. Without pause he answered "Yes" and that sold me. Enough with the long hair. Time for CHOP, CHOP! This afternoon I headed off to see Sarah, my hair stylist. She asked me if I was sure, .... and then if I was really sure.... I was, so you can see the before and after pictures. I'm not regretting it yet.

With short hair, I like to get it cut every six weeks or so... I wonder what kind of cut I'll get in China or Vietnam. We'll find out in six weeks or so, I guess!

CM

Saying bye

Good bye's are too hard to say. Lucky we can say "See you next year"! Even that can be emotional. We've said bye to Nadim's family, non of whom are in Ottawa, and to my sister and her family who are in Toronto. I've said bye to my co-workers and Nadim will be saying bye to his next weekend at a BBQ.

We had a really nice time last weekend. We had invited some friends and neighbours for a dessert party. It was a bit last minute so not everyone could make it, but those that are particularly close to us showed up and it was such a relaxed and fun time that we'll be sure to take those memories with us. We also invited Krista and Pat, the couple who will take over our house while we're gone. It was a great chance for them to meet their new neighbours.

Next week it is Yasmin and Roya's birthday so we will be having a sleep over with some of the friends. It will give them some nice memories to hold onto as well. We've also got a BBQ with friends from Nadim's work. That will be held on Saturday and on Sunday we have dinner at my sister's house. Time is running very short now. Before you know it we'll be on our way.

CM

Visas, Done

Last week Nadim stood in a line-up of about a dozen people looking for Chinese visas. As the individuals in front of him were being processed, he was checking how many would be accepted. Most were missing one item or another and only one of those proceeding him was actually accepted. So Nadim steps nervously to the booth... He's asked for his flight to Beijing. He hands over the one way ticket to Beijing and the clerk is about to reject him because it's only one way, but he provides her our flight info from Hong Kong to Vietnam, and the clerk settles back in the chair. Then she wants the hotel info and Nadim is able to provide that. Then she needs two pictures for each individual, and Nadim provides that. Then she needs the passports and he's got that too. At this point Nadim's hoping she doesn't have more questions, because he hasn't any more papers in his hands for answers.... He thinks "please, please, pick up it the pink pick-up slip", and sure enough she does. Yay.

We now have our visas for China, Vietnam, and Thailand, and we will pick up our visa for India today at 4:30. Looks like we're all set. Comforting and scarey all at the same time!

CM

School work

I've started home-schooling the girls. I'm finding that we can complete our lessons in about 3 hours per day. So far (just two days) it is going well. Math lessons are very easy so far. English is a little harder, perhaps because the girls were in French immersion last year so their english spelling is not that good yet.

Yesterday we had a field trip. I have relatives visiting from Holland and we took them to Upper Canada Village (a town based on the 1860's). The kids had a great history lesson. It was a very hot day, so the girls were quite tired of all the questions we were asking by the end of the day. I think their favourite thing was learning how to milk a cow.

CM

Last week of work

I (Christina) finished work last week. My group and I had organized a technical workshop with about 30+ participants coming from Ottawa and other parts of the country. It made for a busy last week, but it really was a great way to go out. The work that we are doing was well received and in many ways it was a nice wrap up. It was comforting to see the group that I lead as leaders themselves. I am confident that they will continue on with the work that we had started together. I'm leaving it in good hands.

Nadim's last week is this week. He is still busy with handing things off and settling some issues before he goes. For me it felt so strange to be finished. I'm sure for him it will feel the same.

CM

Visas

We need visas for China, Vietnam, Thailand and India. The China visa seems the most difficult to get because of the Olympics right now. We have to have confirmation of our hotel booking, and we're still waiting on that, and we need to have proof of travel in and out. We still need to get our flights out of Hong Kong and into Vietnam so we can't get our Chinese visas until all that's settled. It only takes a day or so to turn it around, so we should be okay.

Nadim had last Friday off and he took the kids to the Vietnam embassy to get Visas. Apparently they only accept cash and Nadim didn't have enough so they had to go twice. They got that paperwork started and then went to the Indian High Commission to ask questions about the Indian visa. Initially we thought we could only get a six month visa and that it would start from day of issue. This would have been an issue since we won't be reaching India until January and there wouln't be much time left on the visa at that point, ... but Nadim found out that we can get a one year visa that costs slightly more, but then we don't have to worry about trying to apply for visas for India while in Thailand or something. We pick up the Vietnam visas tomorrow and will hand off our paperwork and passports to Thailand for the next set of visas.

When I came home from work last Friday the girls were very excited to tell me that they had been to Vietnam twice and India once and that they had stood half in Vietnam and half in Canada. Somewhat confusing, but in fact quite true!

CM

Hong Kong

Hotels in Hong Kong are expensive! We also had some trouble trying to find something that would offer rooms for families with two children. They all seem to offer only one extra bed. Hmmm.... I wonder if the one baby law in China has anything to do with that!

We did a lot of searching and found a family room in the Dragon Hostel in Hong Kong. All accounts say that it is clean and that the staff are very helpful, and its in a great location. They also say that the rooms are really small, but I think we can deal with that.

I was reading up on Disney Land. I guess when it opened it didn't get great reviews but things have improved since. I'm sure the kids will be impressed in any case. Nadim is still boycotting the USA so this will be the closest we'll be getting to Disney for some time.

CM

Beijing apartments - cont'd

We found some intresting apartments on the internet, but were not sure if their locations were ok, especially with little kids. I used to work with a lady who is from the Beijing area, so I sent her the names of the places that we had found and asked her advice. She talked to some of her friends and gave us some suggestions on where to stay (thanks Sharon). So now we have to combine her advice with what we receive from Christina's co-worker's contact and we'll be ready.

We will be in Beijing in 88 days at 2:30 p.m. local time!!

NM

Getting around in Europe

We have decided to lease a car for our travels through Europe. Taxes on new cars are very high in France (about 20%). So French car companies lease brand new cars to tourists at reasonable rates and then buy the cars back. Now the tax will not apply because it is a used car, so they can sell the car at a better price. Everybody wins!

We have been checking the websites of Renault and Peugeot and they have some good deals. I also read that they have introduced super-efficient turbo diesel engines which have amazing consumption - 3.7 litres / 100 km on the highway and 4.5 for city driving. With the high price of fuel in Europe, it will be nice to have an energy efficient vehicle. The problem though is trunk space. We are going to have a couple of suitcases with us and they have to fit in the trunk. I think we have found the right car though - either the Renault Clio Estate wagon or the Peugeot 307 wagon. Now we have to see which one gives us a better deal.

The cars are brand new, come with full warranty, roadside assistance, full insurance with zero deductible, etc. The nearest pick-up point fo us is Munich. We will probably drop it off in Munich or Frankfurt and then fly home through London.

NM

More house stuff

Krista and Pat came over a couple of weeks ago and we went through the whole house, room by room, trying to figure out the things that we should pack and things that we should leave for them to use.

We all agreed that we will put all the clothes from the master bedroom into Yasmin and Roya's closets. That way we don't have to carry them down to the basement and then up again next year. We will leave all the furniture where they are, and if they want to move something they are welcome to do it. We will clear up a section of the basement so they can store their stuff there as well. The basement is going to be pretty full, with all their stuff and some of our stuff. It is awesome to have Krista and Pat stay in the house while we are gone. One less thing to worry about. Thanks guys!

We are planning to invite them to our annual summer bbq so they get to meet all the neighbours and have a chance to talk to them a little. That way they will know who to go to if they need something - like borrow an egg for baking!

NM

Beijing apartments

One of Christina's co-workers has a friend in Beijing, who is a travel consultant. So he has asked for his help in finding us a place to stay while we are there! He may also be able to set us up with a reliable tour guide, itineraries, et. for our sight-seeing trips. Isn't that great?

We also got some website addresses from a friend of mine (an ex co-worker actually) and we have found a few serviced apartments that sound pretty good. We have asked her to let us know if the areas that we have looked at are okay!

Time seems to be moving a little faster now, so we are getting anxious to find a place to stay in Beijing, figure out our visas, etc. We leave for Beijing in exactly 3 months! Stay tuned for more info ...

NM

Now we're excited, scared ... both!

We purchased our tickets for the main flights on Friday! Woohoo!! The trip is now officially real! We leave for Beijing on September 16 at 9:05 a.m.

Our travel agent found a better deal for us: we got one-way tickets to Beijing via Vancouver, and one-way tickets from Bangalore (India) to Ottawa, via London. But the interesting thing is that you can only book flights up to 335 days in advance - which means we could only book the first leg of the return trip on the date that we wanted - April 17, 2009. We will have to change the date of the London-Ottawa leg as we get closer to the date.

Now we have to start looking at flights from Vietnam to Thailand, Thailand to India, and London to Ireland, etc.

NM

Missaghians - unplugged!

We finally got ourselves a laptop! Our main concern about a laptop was the weight - 7 lbs may not seem like much, but try carrying it around for a year! Our initial idea was to get an Asus eee, which is an ultra-portable and very light. But when we played with it at the store, the screen was very small and so was the keyboard.

After some research on line, we decided to get the Dell XPS M1330. It weighs under 5 lbs, has a 13" screen and is quite powerful. We also got a pretty good deal, because the Dell website had a sale and Future Shop had to beat it - so we got $220 off the price. Woohoo! That covered part of the cost of software and anti-virus, etc. Not bad. Yasmin and Roya now want to use the laptop and the desktop to play games at the same time! We'll see about that!

We even have a webcam, speakers, headphones, etc. Now all we have to do is figure out how to use them and Skype together. Then we might be able to talk to people back home while are away.

NM

No more shots! Woohoo!!

We had the last of our shots at the travel clinic, and are pretty excited about no more needles. The last batch that we had to get were the rabies shots. We needed 3 shots at set intervals, and the vaccine was a bright pink colour. So Yasmin and Roya were teasing, saying Daddy is getting a girlie vaccine!



We still have to take malaria pills. We opted for the daily pills rather than the weekly ones because the weekly ones have some nasty side effects. We have heard of people halluciating and having nightmares, scary visions, etc. So we decided against those! The doctor prescribed a test dose that we are going to take for a week to see how our bodies will handle it. If all is okay, we will fill the full prescription and start popping the pills when we get to India.



We also got some doses of Dukorol, which protects against cholera and traveller's diahrrea. That will come in handy when we are in India - reduce the risk of Delhi belly!



So there you have it - no more shots. We are all happy about that.

Figuring out Thailand stay

After the disussion with Bruce and friends, we talked some more about what we want to do in Thailand. Going back to our guiding principles, we want to get in touch with the culture and people of the different countries that we are visiting, while at the same time partaking of the sights and attractions. With this in mind, we did a little more research into the Baha'i community in Thailand and found out that there is a Baha'i school in the north-east (Yasothon), and a socio-economic development project in the north (near ChiangMai).

We got the phone number of our Baha'i contact, Vaughan, in Bangkok and gave him a call. He was quite helpful and agreed that we would be happier spending more time in the north and north-east. He said he would give us the contact info for the director of the Baha'i school in Yasothon, and the project near ChiangMai.

So now, the plan is to start in Nonthaburi (outskirts of Bangkok) and see the sights of Bangkok for about a week - Vaughan has offered us a place to stay at their home during that time (thanks Vaughan!) - and then go up to Yasothon for 5-6 weeks to volunteer at the Baha'i school. Then we will go to the ChiangMai area to participate in the development project for a couple of weeks, and work our way down to Central Thailand (Kanchanaburi area). The next and last stop will be Phuket and Krabi area to relax at the heavenly beaches, befre heading off to India.

NM

Bangkok concerns

Nadim and I recently visited with a friend of mine from work, Bruce, who is very good friends with a couple, Bruce and Ple, who just moved to Canada from Thailand. Bruce had invited Bruce and Ple as well so that we could gather some info from the souce. Bruce is Canadian, but has travelled extensively, and his wife Ple is Thai, and also seems to have done a fair bit of traveling. My friend's wife Karen recently went to Thailand with Ple so it was great to get her perspective on Thailand as well.

We had a great chat about Thailand and Southeast Asia in general. We really enjoyed our afternoon visit. Of course with many of these visits it raises as many questions as it answers. It's a good thing we exchanged e-mail for follow-up questions!

The big thing that we came away with is rethinking the amount of time that we want to stay in Bangkok area. It is a very big city with some serious traffic and pollution issues. We had initially thought to make it our base for the duration of our Thailand trip and make a couple of side trips to the north and the south while there, but now we are re-considering. We've decided to do a little more reading, and get in touch with our Baha'i friends to seek out the network of other Baha'is in Thailand.

The other big question we had for ourselves was "Do we want to see the Thai attractions, or the Thai people?" The answer is of course, a bit of both. Although Bangkok is close to many of the attractions, it doesn't seem the most likly place to see the real Thai people.

Hmmm..... more thinking required on this one.

CM

Travel Clinic again

After having been told that our travel health clinic was closing, we found another doctor through our travel agent. He was very good. It's Dr. Weiner (pronounced, like the term for hotdog). I kind of felt like I was insulting him if I called him by name! He was very easy to talk to and pretty good with the needles. Usually my arm hurts the next day, but not this time.

We discussed our travel plans and the shots we had already taken, and came away with a few more shots, and more planned. The whole family now has our boosters for both Hep A and B. The girls also got Meningitis, but he didn't have enough in stock for Nadim and I too, so we'll have to get it on the next trip. He checked some of his books and determined that when we're in India, it isn't going to be the season for Japanese Encephylitis, so we don't need those shots, but he did suggest Rabies shots. It's low risk, but since we'll be gone so long it's better to be safe than sorry.

Next visit we still have to talk about Malaria pills too. It's not an issue in most of the areas we are going to, but if we go to rural areas we may want to take something. We'll get more info on that later.

CM

Travel Clinic - Ahhh

We had an appointment scheduled with our travel clinic in early April. We recently got a voice message saying our appointment had been cancelled. The reason? -- The clinic is closing! Ahhh

Well it's good that we have our vaccination cards updated! Luckily we met with the travel agent just after we got the message and in our discussion it came up. He suggested another clinic, so we are going to try that one.

On another health note, I was reading through our work health care plan and found that our insurance will only cover us for the first 40 days that we are away. So... something else to look into - getting insurance for the whole duration of our travel.

An apple a day?

CM

Making contacts

We have been trying to get some contacts in various countries we will be visiting through our friends here in Ottawa. We've recently had some success.

A friend of ours has a brother near Beijing, and we just got his e-mail address. We have some other friends from the Beijing area who have said they can see what they can do to set us up with an appartment. I'm not sure if that will work out, but if it does, it would be great. The travel agent is also looking at sme options for us.

We made contact with a fellow from Nonthaburi (just north of Bangkok) who is an active Baha'i in the area. We've been e-mailing with him and have an offer to stay with his family until we can find a place there. I also have another friend who is good friends with a couple who just moved back to Canada from Thailand. We are planning a visit with them to get ideas on what to see and I'm hoping they can provide us some contacts as well.

We've also finally got in touch with some Baha'is in India. We don't have an e-mail address yet, but we do have a cell phone number which Nadim plans to try in the near future. Nadim remembers a Baha'i center in Mysore that had sleeping quarters. If worse comes to worse we figure we could crash there until we find a place.

For the last leg of the journey, we have a friend whose family is still in Croatia. They have offered us a place to stay, but we have to get more details. Another friend is from Romania and thinks he may be able to help us with renting a chalet through a friend.

It's starting to feel like we have a bit of a safety net.

CM

Travel agent tips.

We talked to the travel agent a week or so ago. It turns out that we will flip our itinerary and do the north of India (the golden triangle) first and end in the south because flights from Thailand to the south of India go through Delhi and we can have a stop-over for free!

The other thing we decided to do is take the train from Beijing to Hong Kong, and then on to Hanoi, Vietnam. It is a two day train ride, but with sleeper rooms it should be kind of an adventure.

We also asked about accomodations, particularly in Beijing, Bangkok, and Mysore. Most travel agents specialize only in hotels, not appartments or condos. He did have some contacts so I'm hoping we will get something out of that.

CM

Eastern Europe

We are planning to start by leasing a car in Munich in early May, 2009. The leases are much, much cheaper than renting. Our overall plan is to tour various countries for a week or two and then stop and relax for a week or two so that we aren't constantly on the move.

From Munich we will take a trip, perhaps stopping along the way, to Hungary. We will spend about a week in Hungary.

Then we will go to Romania for 3-4 weeks. We will spend a couple of weeks touring around Romania and then find a place to relax for two weeks. By that time, I'm sure we will need a break.

After Romania, we will go to Croatia and spend a week touring the country before finding a nice island or sea side village to settle in for a week or so. We will be in Croatia in June so hopefully the water will be warm enough for swimming.

From Croatia we will head up through Czech Republic. We will only spend about a week there visiting Prague and Cesky (where there is a famous castle).

Then we move on to Poland where we will spend 2-3 weeks. Again the first couple of weeks will be spent touring around the country and visiting the major cities. We plan to end up along the north shore of Poland where there are some beautiful beaches. We will be mid-Summer at this point so it should be good timing.

We can drop the car across the boarder in Germany, and probably fly back to London from Berlin, and from there we head back to home sweet home. Unless we decide to head to Holland or France to visit some relatives.

CM

Ireland now too!

The major flights will be booked through British Airways. You get free stopovers along the way,and since they stop in London, we thought it would be a great opportunity to visit my Aunt and her family who live in Limerick!

I was e-mailing with her last week and I think we are both very excited about that part of the trip. She will put us up, which will be great after being on our own in India. She has two little girls, one of which is just a year younger than our girls. It will be a lot of fun to see them play together.

I've never been to Ireland, but have always thought it would be great to go. I've not been to London either, other than the airport on stopovers to France or Holland. So we may also try to spend a couple of days there as well before we head off on the eastern European leg of our trip.

CM

India - Details

After Thailand, it's on to India! When Nadim was young he lived in India for about 10 years. His time there was spent between Goa and Mysore (Southwestern India). As Baha'is we are interested in visiting Delhi and the Baha'i house of worship that is shaped like a lotus flower. This is particularly interesting to Nadim because he is an engineer and finds the structure very interesting as well.

When we first talked about visiting India we thought about staying in Delhi and volunteering at the house of worship there, but as we started to do our research we decided that we might be more comfortable in Mysore. It's a smaller city that Nadim will be familiar with, even though it has been 20 years, and he's lost touch with the people he once knew there. I'm sure he will remember many people once we get there.

So once again, we pulled out our Lonely Planet guide. We were drawn to the western half of India because it seemed to have more to offer in the way of things to see and less risk of malaria and other nasty diseases. Even with ruling out half the country it is still so big with so much to see that we had difficulty settling on a game plan. But after much reading we decided that we would first make Mysore our home base. We plan to arrive there in late January 2009. We will stay there and make some side trips to Hampi which boasts an interesting market, some ruins and boulders that seem to defy gravity. In Mysore itself there is the Maharaja's Palace, and temples. We also thought about a side trip to Ooty which is known as a retreat for the locals to get away from the ciy heat. Chamundi Hills is also near Mysore and should be interesting. We thought we would take a longer side trip, perhaps a week or 10 days, through Kerala. Apparently the houseboat tours are really cool. There is an elephant sanctuary, and tea and spice plantations that would also be interesting to see, not to mention the quiet beaches.

After Mysore we plan to go to Goa for about a week. Goa is known for its beaches, markets, and churches. After Goa we are debating a trip to Ajanta where there are some caves with cave drawings in them. It is a bit difficult to get to that area, so we may end up skipping it if we feel that we are tired of traveling.

After Goa we plan to hit the "Golden Triangle", Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. Delhi is known for the old markets, forts and for us the house of worship. Agra is of course known for the Taj Mahal, and Jaipur is known for its colourful bazaar and shopping. There is a ghost town, Fatehpur, along the way that I think would be neat to see as well.

We debated about going to the northwest part of India (Gujarat), but thought we might be in for too much travel. We'll see how the kids are doing and how the home school classes are going and decide if we might want to add it back in. Of course the longer distances in India are part of the problem. Plane tickets are not as cheap as they are in Thailand, but our travel book is a couple years out of date and there was hope that domestic air travel would be coming down in price. We'll check it out with our travel agent before we finalize our plans.

CM

Thailand: details

In early November 2008 we plan to leave Vietnam and head for Thailand for about three months. When we had started our research on Thailand we initially thought we would stay in Chiang Mai. We thought that it was still a relatively large city but not as intimidating as Bangkok. But... after some more reading and talking with some Thai aquantences we decided that it might be better to stay somewhere more central. So we are now looking at the Bangkok area. Ayuthaya (85 km north of Bangkok) was recommended to us, but we think it might be a bit far from the city and from public transit to other areas that we would like to see. The other area we are considering is Nonthaburi (about 20 km northwest of Bangkok). We are told Nonthaburi has a strong Baha'i community which would be helpful for us. We've got an e-mail out to some people in Nonthaburi for their advice, and we'll probably ask a travel agent for advice as well.

We would still like to visit the north of Thailand and will likely take a one week trip to the Chiang Mai area at some point during our stay. We will also take a trip to the south of Thailand and see the Krabi and Phuket areas which are known for their amazing beaches. The rest of the time we will stay in the central area.

While in Thailand we plan to see palaces, and temples (there are a ton of those) and a reclining Buddha that is 15 m high by 46 m long! I'm sure we will also take in some boat rides along rivers and canals. There will also be some interesting markets to visit, monkeys to see, and elephant rides. We also want to see a famous 7 tiered waterfall and the Death Railway (bridge over the river Kwai). I'm sure their will be lots more to see, and of course we'll have to make time for home-schooling work too!

Hopefully we will have some friends come visit us while we are there. If they can make it we would try to do the trip to the south with them and have them stay with us in the Bangkok area for a little while as well.

CM

Vietnam: details

After China, we plan to go to Vietnam for a couple of weeks. So how much could we fit into a two week trip?

The country can be divided into three areas, the north, central and south regions. We are very interested in the north because of the natural beauty, particularly along the coast where there are thousands of limestone islands and caves. We plan to spend about a week in the north. We will stay at the city of Hanoi (known for it's history and architecture) for a few days and go for a few days to Halong Bay as well.

Then we will go to the central area for a week. Our trusty Lonely Planet guide tells us that Hue and Danang are the two main cities in the central region, but they are not highly recommended. Instead we plan to go to Hoi-An which is a little quieter, but has beaches nearby and natural attractions, mountain tours, etc.

We've decided to skip Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) in the south. It would have been an interesting city for Nadim and I to see, but we felt that it would not be a great choice for the whole family. Instead we will travel to Thailand after visiting the north and central regions of Vietnam.

CM

Beijing: What to see

So we had already decided to start our trip in Beijing and we had given ourselves a month. So I started to think about how much is there to see in one city. I got out lonely planet guide out and started to leaf through the Beijing area. I knew we would want to do some everyday type things like visit the library (for homeschooling purposes), find out where the health clinic, grocery stores and things were, but I was astounded at the number of site seeing opportunities that were available in just one city!

At the top of the list of course is the Great Wall of China, Tianamen Square, and the Forbidden City, but there are also all kinds of gardens, an aquarium, a zoo, science museums, temples and places, bike tours, Chinese puppet theatre, Ming Tombs, and "Le Cool Ice Rink". I've listed about 20 different things that we need to see or do while in Beijing. I hope we can fit them all in. We are also thinking about day trips to Tianjin, a coastal town about 1.5 hours away, and to Chengde which is about 250 km away and boasts the largest regal gardens.

We are still debating about how to get from Beijing to Vietnam. We could take a lengthy train ride, and get off for quick stops in one or more of Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Macau, or we could take the much quicker method of flying, but then we do miss out on the other places.

CM

Home Sweet Home

We have a beautiful house, a large backyard, great neighbours, and a nice location. So, giving all that up for a year will be difficult, but giving it up permanently was not an option that we wanted to consider.

Our extended family was our first thought, but there was really nobody in a situation where they would want to move to Ottawa and stay in our house for a year. So we thought about renting and didn't much like the idea of having someone we didn't know in our house, especially if we didn't know if we could trust them. Then as luck would have it, we heard about a couple though my sister-in-law. They were interested in renting our house! Someone we could trust and our mortgage covered, yay!

A few weeks back we met with Krista and Pat. We enticed them with a cup of coffee and some home-made pumpkin bread, and before you know it we were talking like old friends. We came away with our house rented to friends we could trust and no hastle of changing bills out of our names and they came away with a pretty good deal for such a beautiful house. I think everyone is feeling very good about it.

We still need to figure out what needs to be packed and what doesn't, but all in all I think it will work out really well. This is a big load off our minds!

Christina

Are you smarter than a third grader?!

We have now received all the home schooling materials that we ordered. We are going to concentrate on language kills, world history and math. The math books are very cool. They have exercises in making fractions, using sets, etc. I am not sure who is more excited about this, us or the kids!


The books on history are also very interesting. The one that we will be studying is called "The Story of The World - Ancient Times", and goes through the ancient civilizations of Egypt, India, China, Greece, Persia, etc. The book is written more as a narrative than a text book, so it is more intresting reading as well.

The English books have a lot of grammar execises, sentence structure, vocabulary, etc. It should be fun to have the kids do research on historic places that we will be visiting and write reports on their visits. That way, they can learn their history and practise their writing skills. We will also encourage them to stay in touch with family and friends through e-mail and snail mail.

Travel medicine (2)

Back to the travel clinic for booster shots... The girls knew what to expect this time, but they were brave and didn't make a fuss. So we got our booster shots for Hep A and B. It was combined into one needle so the girls were happy. This time we came away with the cool Shrek band aids. The not so cool ones went back in the box for the doctor's next victim!

We have one more booster for Hep A and B, but that isn't for another few months. We also need Japanese Encephalitis, but rather than pay $115/shot and we would each need three shots we think we may get it in China and pay only $5/shot. Amazing what happens when you mass produce something! We got the e-mail address of a clinic and will see what we can arrange.

We also need Malaria pills. It's not likely that we would get it, but better be safe than sorry. Those can wait until we are closer to our departure date.

Home schooling

When we decided we would live somewhat more like nomads and not just have one place as a home base for the year, our ideas of enrolling the girls in a foriegn school were given up and in thier place home schooling ideas began to grow. At first I thought how difficult could it be? So I started quite confidently looking at the Ontario curriculum guides online. No issues there. Then I started to look for lesson plans. That seemed a little harder. There were so many lesson plans! The free ones seemed like a lot of work to put them into a program that would flow and there were so many choices for the ones that you could purchase. I didn't really know where to start. So I was starting to get a little more nervous about pulling together the program... luckily I spoke with some friends about it and they put me in contact with a mom in the neighbourhood who was homeschooling her children. This was her first year doing it and she was very excited to share a ton of information. She had just finished grade three with one of her daughters so it was good timing.

We sat down and talked for a few hours and I came away with a much better idea of how she had structured her approach to home schooling and once again it didn't seem too bad. She lent me a book "The Well Trained Mind - A Guide to Classical Education at Home" by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise. I flipped through her copy and ended up getting my own copy. It helped me figure out what materials I wanted to purchase and how to structure my home schooling program. After reading it, I was totally pumped up. It's going to be so much fun to teach the girls. It will be hard work too, but I hope it will be very rewarding.

As I was reading I made notes on what workbooks and things I would need and also on how I would do the various subjects. I recently went online and tracked down all the items that I wanted and some of the things have already arrived! Yay.

I think we will be able to manage the various subjects Monday-Thursday mornings and leave Friday for spelling tests and projects. Mostly I am going to focus on English and Math. I've got the Rod & Staff, English 3 Beginning Wisely lesson plans and workbooks and the MCP Spelling workbooks. I have ordered the Saxon Math program, but they haven't come in yet. We will also be doing world history. The Ontario program calls for Ontario history in grade three, but forget that when we will be seeing things like the Great Wall of China! I also thought I would add in a religion class where the girls can study prayers, writings and the history of the Baha'i faith.

I wonder how I'll feel when we come back. Will I be glad to send them back to the public system or will I want to continue home schooling? One thing at a time I guess.

Tickets, get your tickets!

So apparently you need to buy tickets to go anywhere! We had budgeted approximately $20k for airline tickets for the 4 of us. That was the estimate we had arrived at based on our review of various websites, including some "world traveller" sites. It was now time to meet with a travel agent to discuss airline tickets. It was very exciting to actually sit down with a travel agent and talk about the trip - it made it more real somehow, because all our rsearch until then was done at home on the internet! Also, the fact that they had a huge map of the world on their wall was very cool - we got up and mapped out the trip on the big map!

The agent said the world travel tickets start at approximately $4k per person, not including taxes. You get 26,000 miles of air travel with that type of ticket. Then he suggested we look at one of the major airlines to map out a basic route and then plan side trips. To make a long story short, this is the plan we came up with:

We could fly British Airways from Montreal to Beijing (through London), and return from Delhi to Montreal (again through London). This would be the main trip. We then book flights from Beijing to Hanoi, Hanoi to Bangkok and Bangkok to Bangalore (India), using regional airlines. Flights from Hanoi to Bangkok are $40 per person! You can't even get a bus ticket for that here. Then, once we fly from Delhi to London, we make another side trip to Bucharest, and return from Warsaw. We will probably rent a car in Bucharest and return it in Warsaw. That way we can do the eastern european leg of the trip by car. This scenario ends up costing us approximately $3,000 each, including taxes! Now that is great news! We get to save some money on flights - woohoo! And we can book all our flights right here in Ottawa, with the flexibility to change dates if we have to. We'll have to wait until late January or February 2008 for next year's ticket schedules to be released though.

Going through London is also exciting because we will have a chance to stop over for a few days and do some sight seeing. We may even get to visit some relatives in the area. Maybe drop in on the Queen if she's in town, and have some tea!

The Travel Clinic

So Nadim and I told the girls that we were going to the travel clinic and that we were going to just get some advise on the type of shots and medication we would need. Roya asked us, in that shy worried voice that kids sometimes have... 'are we going to have to get a needle?'. So first we told her that she would get a needle that was about a foot long and it would go right through her arm if she moved. Luckily she knows we are a bunch of jokers, so she didn't believe us. We then told the kids that we would get shots, but not at this visit. So off we went!

We had to wait a little while, but got in fairly quickly. I didn't notice it, but Nadim and Roya brought it to our attention afterwards - the doctor provided information in the form of questions. He would ask something like "So you could get Hep A, how bad is it?" then he would answer his own question. There were all sorts of questions "So will it kill you? No, but you could have symptoms like...." So we were asked lots of funny questions that thankfully we didn't have to answer, and we got all sorts of good info. We also were told that we needed Hep A and B shots and Typhoid, along with a bunch of others that would need to be ordered. He said he could give us the first shot of Hep A/B and Typhoid today if we wanted. Nadim and I looked at each other, shrugged and said why not!

The doctor said that he had one combo shot of Hep A/B for a child, but that the other girl would have to get separate needles since he only had one combo. Who was the braver of the two. We volunteered Yasmin. So the sleeves were rolled up and Roya went first. There were a few crocodile tears, but she survived with her Barbie Band-aid. Yasmin got her shots and also got a special Band-aid. It had Dora on it. Of course with the girls getting special Band-aids Nadim had to have one too. His was a Surfer Barbie. I was lucky enough to get one with My Little Pony on it.

So we have to go back and get a booster and then we are good for life for Hep A/B and for ten years for Typhoid. We also have to go back for Japanese Encephalitis shots and Malaria pills and whatever other good advise the doctor can give us. I hope I don't start laughing when the rhetorical questions start!