This not Obama....this Obamo!

Beijing, China Pt 2

The first few days we were in Beijing we made our way around the city. We experienced the "knock off" markets, and enjoyed fighting down prices on little gifts for family and friends. Also, through Andreas' great researching skills, we found an amazing tailor...said to be very popular with the ex-pat population....and each bought a custom suit tailored to our liking. Andreas' was a three piece suit, which made him look very "movie star" chic....while I opted for a less traditional dark blue shorts suit....ya know....to wear to 'da club' ;-) (Sadly we have no pictures...they have been packed away in a suit bag for the rest of the trip)

We also 'invested' in a new piece of 'Swis Army' luggage...that's right knock off Swiss Army! Andreas made us walk around the market area for an extra 30 min, because he really wanted Tumi....
I was having a hard time understanding why the knock off brand mattered...but later that evening I saw a woman arguing with a vendor saying she wanted a Chanel watch with a black band....and "only Chanel!" I guess the fake brand really does matter after all! So, in that case...show me the knock off Louboutin's???

The "Great" Great Wall
On our second to last day in Beijing, we made it to the Great Wall! I can't think of a better way to start this post than to share some of Andreas' photos with you. Enjoy! (p.s. it was extremely crowded...so these photos of no one in the background took a lot of time and patience.)

The Great Wall....is only GREAT for about an hour.....

Taking the chair lift up to the Wall.

For some reason I feel safer on these things when there's snow beneath me.

First photos taken on the wall.

Ok, mine was the first...his was the second photo taken on the wall.

A rare photo together!

Andreas with his girlfriend wrapped around his left hand. ;-)

The steps were my size...not one step fit the length of Andreas' entire foot!

He was also ahead of me on this trek...My competitiveness was making me feel like I needed to step it up!

Twinkle Toes on the wall!

Andreas taking a photo at the bottom of the stairs....me taking one of him at the top ( = messing up his shot...he will yell at you)

The smell inside this toliet made me almost vomit twice....I warned him...he went in anyway!

That looks like a long walk.....

Doing his thing....one of my favorite shots of him on this trip!

This group was singing and dancing and taking group photos all over the wall! Had to share one with you...GO TEAM YELLOW! (Rose, i'm sending you on one of these tours)

This sign reads "Dotice to visitors" What's a Dotice???

We found this little puppy on the wall...so cute and friendly...and so soft! It was the first thing we saw when we got off the chair lift....we went straight for it!

VIDEO:
Great Wall Puppy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G86lo6m2ak

VIDEO:
Our second steps on the Great Wall
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zov_JITRpos

Mutianyu Great Wall - This is the location of the wall we went to!

Looking for the enemy! (Although, in China, sometimes I've been made to feel like the enemy is ME!) ;-)

VIDEO:
Taking the toboggan slide down from the Great Wall!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTUx9SPR8D4

A little gem of a Great Wall story:
We were at the Great Wall admiring all of the "ancient souvenir huts" and overheard a funny conversation between an American man and his Chinese tour guide. The American man saw a t-shirt with a familiar face on it and announced to the rest of his group that the huts were selling t-shirts with Obama's picture on them. The Chinese guide quickly interrupted and said..."No sir, this not Obama....this Obamo! It knock off Obama." (For those of you who have ever shopped in Chinatown NYC....you can understand the difference, as I'm sure you have walked away with at least one "Prado" bag in your lifetime)

Temple Of Heaven
We took an afternoon trip to the Temple of Heaven...again, more rooms with giant thrones inside...made Andreas a little sad...if you are wondering how sad...see sad face below....

Sad Face!

The Temple through Andreas' eyes:

I just love this photo...see the bird?

A cross was found at the Temple of Heaven....it was a comforting sign!

 The rest of the photo's taken at the temple!

Me at the Seven Star Stones, inside the temple

You can read about their significance if you like....

I'm famous!

He wanted to feel famous too...so I took his photo!

Chinese people kept touching the gold parts of all of these doors...we were unsure of the reason why...but it made me want a photo.

I think he was a ballet dancer in a past life...

Look at how beautiful his form is...just incredible....sir, were you in Black Swan?

Andreas playing paddle board with a stranger inside the temple.

There was supposedly this famous section of the temple called the Three Stones....we looked and looked and then realized we must have misunderstood the name....ladies and gentlemen....the famous Three Cans (also know as Paper, Plastic and Waste)

This nice boy asked to take a photo with me...

...and then told me I was very beautiful (in front of his girlfriend)

I tried to slide down this...

It was harder than I thought it would be...but I succeeded.

I was sick of Andreas taking scenery shots...so I stuck my mug in one.

Taking a rest inside the temple garden.

Tian'amen Square at Dawn

We were warned of how popular blonde hair was in China. Andreas loved it...soaking in all of that movie star attention he just knew he was made for. I, on the other hand, had good days and bad days. My highest point was when the nice boy in the earlier photos asked to take a photo with me at the Temple of Heaven, and then proceeded to tell me how beautiful I was....in front of his girlfriend no less. My low point, when Andreas woke me up at 4am to see the raising of the flag in Tian'amen Square, and for us to have to deal with a rude man, and his zoom lens camera in my face for 20 min. It was like he was looking for the perfect shot...but was unable to ask if he could take our picture. Needless to say, I had a moment of insanity and began snapping photos of him and anyone else that appeared to be taking my photo that morning. I might have even been saying things like 'yeah, now how does it feel...how to you like feeling like someone is watching you...i'm watching you...i am!!!!' Oh, did I mention that I also took a video of it? ;-)


Raising the Flag the Tian'amen Square....and a little side commentary from ME ;-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIkXlH1HqeA

This is the man I was talking about....RUDE!!!!

We were shocked by how many Chinese tourists were at the square at 4:45am. It was unreal...hundreds upon hundreds of people.

Just before dawn...flag is not yet raised.

You can't see it, but the flag is now raised...and there was a flood of people to leave immediately following the raising ceremony. It was like they were all told to watch the ceremony and then run back to the tour bus as fast as possible so not to get stuck in traffic.

Andreas....a little too excited at 5am! (wish he would show the same kind of energy when its time to go for a workout)

And finally, a few shots of us out and about...exploring the town, eating food and...smoking cigars!

Peking Duck Dinner...All I have too say it that it was good we went to this dinner on the last day because if it would have been any earlier we would have returned each night for more. It was insanely delicious!

Andreas wanted to try a Cuban Cigar while grabbing a few drinks at a back ally bar.

He's so cool! He just oozes coolness!

Ok, I wasn't gonna let him have all the fun!

Andreas doing laundry....yes, that's an empty water bottle he is using to stir.

I saw this candy on The Amazing Race....had to have some!

Only tried a little....but it was very good

We found a beer garden....had to stop, it would have been rude not too! Beer and pretzels please!!!

Through Andreas eyes.....the Chinese version of driving with a Wide Load!

Miss you Meg!

You could buy different versions of these clip on ears all over one of the hutong markets...I thought they were so cute, but could not come up with a good reason for needing a pair.

Hutong Street

Another Wide Load!

Nothing says love better than matching outfits!

Andreas' inspiration behind this photo was a speech from Rocky IV....

I came here tonight...
                and I didn't know what to expect.
                I've seen a lot of people hating me...
                and I didn't know...
                what to feel about that, so...
                I guess I didn't  like you much either.
                During this fight...
                I seen a lot of changing:
                the way you felt about me...
                and the way I felt about you.
                In here...
                there were two guys...
                killing each other.
                But I guess that's better  than a million.
                What I'm trying to say is...
                if I can change...
                and you can change...
                everybody can change!

VIDEO: (these video's were inspired by the Rose on the Fence photo above...if they can love each other...maybe the world can love each other)
Andreas Vs Rocky....Who's speech was better?
Andreas' version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKRB4k1yrko
Rocky's version: http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/blogs/latest/entry/rockys-end-speech-from-rocky-iv-lost-in-translation

Beijing Airport...it was massive!

So long China...off to Thailand!

That's right...off to Bangkok! Will post picture's of Thailand in the next day or so!

Hope your all enjoying the blog. We want to wish my Mom a Happy Birthday, and congratulate Ry again for his college graduation from LSU! Wish we could have been home to celebrate both occasions.

Lots of love to all of our family and friends!