THE Shaolin Temple - Home of Chinese Kung Fu

Back over the summer, I took Reid and Riley to the home of Chinese Kung Fu.  Growing up, we used to watch horribly dubbed kungfu movies on Saturday morning.  So, one of my bucket lists was to head to THE Shaolin Temple and see how it was done.  We decided on just a few days of lessons, coupled with some site seeing.  Frankly speaking, the lessons were borderline torture.  Here is the basic outline:

Wednesday - 6 hour train ride, sleep on a bed as hard as the floor.
Thursday - Tai Chi in the early AM, learn some kungfu forms (moves / poses).  Power stretching - this is best blocked from memory as it takes 3 people (2 to torture, 1 to scream) to properly execute.  Basically, you are stretched beyond what your mind says is possible.  It HURT.  Afternoon was more training and then I volunteered for sparring.
Friday - AM, skipped Tai Chi.  Acrobatics (I was too sore to do it, so I just practiced forms).  Afternoon was the mountain run.
Saturday - travel to a hotel and soak in the hot tub.
Sunday - train ride home

In all, it was memorable that is for sure.  I am glad we did it and I am also glad that Rowan had a fever the morning of the trip because I think he was just too young.  Next time I go will be just for site seeing.

One BIG plus was how nice and helpful the master and other students were.  In particular, there were several students who were very nice about helping out the tourists while we swooped in for a few days.  I felt our job was to do our best and push as hard as possible out of respect for them and their help.

Breakfast of champions on the train.

Oh yeah, plenty of things to buy to hit later.

That's not a sword, this is a sword!

No foolin' around at this school.  I would grow to hate the choice between the ramp and the two steps once my legs seized up later in the week.

Living in the lap of luxury.  The beds were every bit as comfortable as they looked.

The next few shots were taken around the school area.  Inside the temple property, I guess there were about 20 small schools.

Hamming it up and feeling fresh upon arrival.  That would change.

Daniel doing some damage to the local flora.

Time to rise and shine - day 1.

Every day starts with a nice jog to warm up.

The three of us doing our best.  At this point that was the lowest I could physically go.  The guy behind us is doing it right...

Sparring and missing.

Taking a kick in the leg.  That would hurt later.  Overall, my friend summed it up with the following:  "Well, you definitely didn't win.  But you did get everyone's respect I think."  And I kept all my teeth, not bad for the first time.

Morning - Day 2

Always time for a little horseplay.

He deserved it, I can assure you.

We spent the afternoon touring the temple.

The holes in the trees are where the monks practice throat stabbing.

Time to catch a performance.  We heard there was a guy that got kicked and punched in the throat and crotch, he wasn't there though.  :(

Love this trash can.

Yep, pure sugar flavored.

So this was about half of the mountain run...

Made it!  Riley had already started down.

Nothing like respect.

All work, no play.  That's us.

The master graciously allowed my friend to photograph him.  This is how it's done!

On Day 3, we headed out for some site seeing.  Where did the camel come from?!?!?!?

The pagoda forest, basically tombs of past important monks.

Again, respect.

I love this modern one.  The relief in the middle has a video camera and a laptop carved in it.

We opted for the easy way up the mountain on Day 3...

Car ride to the hotel.  Riley actually had a fever on day 3.  Very tough kid.

The motley crew heads back.

Sorry about this one.  This occurred on the train, about 3 seats ahead of me.  If you have that much time to build a toilet in your seat, WHY CAN'T YOU JUST TAKE THE KID TO THE FREAKIN' BATHROOM?????  Amazing.

Xi'an with the Mac Daddy (Daddy Mac and Gramma Mac)

We had the joy of hosting my parents not too long ago for their second visit to China.  This year was special for many reasons, but in particular being able to share Xi'an with them as we celebrated their 70th birthdays this year!   WOOOOOOHOOOOOO!

Some quick facts on Xi'an:

• Located Northwestern China.  Picture China as a rooster facing right, Xi'an is basically on the wing.
• One of the oldest cities in China, dating back over 3,100 years
• Home of the world famous Terra Cotta warriors
• Home of hundreds of emperors tombs
• The first major city that people encountered on the silk road when entering China
• Home to a major Muslim population.  Meaning great, "clean" food
• A small city in China of  over 7 million people (plus or minus 5 million).

Entrance to the tomb of  Emperor Qin Shi Huang.  He was the emperor who unified China in 221 BC, the Qin dynasty.  Note that the mountains at his head and a river at his feet mean good feng shui...

Taking it all in.  This is just one of the locations for his life sized terra cotta army.  They said that only about 1% has been discovered.  This was about the size of 3 football fields.

A little closer look.

The warriors were modeled after real soldiers, note the really skinny guy in the middle right.

This was the "hospital" where the fragments were pieced together over the course of months and months per soldier.

Each of the boxes holds a soldier, or horse.

So this I love.  One of the worlds great treasures so let's make sure we don't spend too much on the ramp or the wheel barrow moving things around.  I mean really, whats the difference between putting together a 10,000 piece warrior and a 10,500 piece warrior because you dropped it?

Here we are!

Classic, almost caught Ro napping.  He is on to me with this tradition, so we may be looking at his last vacation nap in a stroller.  He was not happy that I took his picture.

We went local for lunch in the Muslim district.  Daddy Mac showing us how it's done.

Riley posing with our cook.

After we got back from the Muslim area and a shopping street, we hit the town close to the hotel.

Our guide was not keen on the touristy dumpling house I got off of a travel show.  But this is what happens when you leave us alone for dinner.  Hey, there is nothing wrong with swinging back to the beaten path now and then.  Here are the boys looking at the display of dumplings, famous because they are shaped to look like their filling:  duck, frog, pig, fish, walnut, etc.

Here's what they looked like when they hit the table.  All in all a pretty good meal. 

On day two we headed off the before mentioned path.  Our guide had "some family" living in the caves close to Xi'an, so we got an inside look.

Bed and fully automated mahjong table.  Apparently his sister runs a mahjong den.

Really cool, just really cool.

Teaching us how to play a form of Jenga.  This was the favorite part of the trip for the kids.

The whole crew and a few new friends.

While we were in the area, we stopped by a newly opened second tomb, which also house terra cotta warriors.  This is the mausoleum of Jingdi, fourth emperor of the Han dynasty.  The Han was the longest running dynasty in Chinese history, even today sometimes people in the majority group call themselves "Han People".  Above is a model of the tomb.  The trenches running out of it are where the warriors lie.

These warriors were much smaller (about 2 feet tall) than those we saw the day before and, well, pretty creepy actually.

Anatomically correct creepiness.  They don't have arms because the arms were made of wood so they could be pose able.

Of course the creepy dolls needed some creepy animals.  Actually, these came across as being cute.

Belt noodles for lunch.  My children thought they had an all access pass to the kitchen.  Or maybe that was me and they just followed.

In the afternoon we hit the old city wall.

Pretty cool view of the old and the new.  Man it was hot up there though!!!

Afternoon at the small goose pagoda and the air conditioned museum.  Whew!

Much deserved massage upon arriving home.  Yes, she is in pain.

Street vendor trying to get Ro to like something so his grandmother will buy it for him.

Typical street in old town, photo taken by my dad.

A little surprise picture on my dad's camera.  I don't know what is so interesting about a "beware of dog" sign, other than the fact that the dog is clearly a male.

Singapore

I was in Singapore earlier this spring.  Again, just getting caught up on blogs.  It was a welcome change from the cold and wet of Suzhou (although it was still wet in Singapore).  Upon my return back, Rebecca already began making plans for our return holiday.  Also, I noticed there is a Legoland in Kuala Lumpur, just a short drive across the Malaysia border...

The drive in from the airport.  Dead in the middle of the picture is the famous Marina Sands hotel.  It is made of three towers with a "boat" across all of them.  Also, to the left is the botanical gardens and just to the right is a large ferris wheel.

View from the top of Marina Sands.  Livin' the dream (but actually I stayed in the YMCA, really I did).  So really it was more like Posin' the Dream.

Looking down on the botanical gardens.  All of this was land reclaimed from the ocean.

The buildings to the bottom right are for those plants needing temperature controlled environments (i.e. air conditioning).

The other side of the building overlooks downtown.

Unbelievable architecture.  Also, a floating soccer field.

Make note of this place and go there, frequently.

We happened to be there while they were still in the throws of Chinese New Year.  Above we are mixing up a special New Year salad unique to the region.

Feeding Bill some chili crab.

I really loved the pepper crab.  Your lips go numb as you eat it.

View from the ferris wheel.

Another staple food - Hainan Chicken Rice.  The food courts in Singapore are all government controlled, so very hygenic.

MMMM, roasted meat.

Popular with the lunch crowd and cheap too.  Three of us ate for about $15.

The year of the snake.  I was tempted to pick one of the up for Rebecca as it is her year.

Way to stay classy, Singapore.  You are better than this.