LEI ANN
Just a quick post that I will be moving this blog to its new home in about a week & this site on Squarespace will be gonezo. If you subscribe to my feed or link to this site in any way, please change it to:
See you over there ^_^
Leave a Comment
Day #12: Still woke up to not having breakfast...just ate some crackers & trail mix. I don't know if I would just rather have the extra half hour to sleep or our dinners are so filling and late that I'm just not hungry...probably! Our very last training session :( Kinda sad. We knew it would be just review. We head down there & start working out. Then, 2 German guys whom I guess were also training at the school wanted to take a picture with Master Chan & all of us. Kinda funny. After doing all that & reviewing the forms a bit more, it had only been 15 minutes! It was gonna be a rough session, but we powered through it. Then, they told us that Master Liang was going to be coming at 11:00 (end of our session) & if we could perform the forms for him. Most of us felt ready for the 1st form, but less of us for the 2nd form. For certain people not even ready to show Master Liang the 1st form, **** had to ask them to step aside. So, we did the forms for him & he seemed pleased, even though he told us that the T-stance where we punch down & fist at our shoulders, all had to be quicker and TIGHTER! Hahahaha...I was secretly pleased that we received instruction from THE head instructor himself. It was quite an honor. Then, as if he hadn't been so generous to us already, he presented each of us with a certificate that was totally personalized with our names, birthdates, etc. that was essentially a kung fu certificate that we had trained there! A Shaolin diploma!!! Totally awesome...so official! After group photos, we cleaned up & got ready to check out. While we were waiting on the bus, Master Liang even came on to wave goodbye one last time. I think he was very sad to see his good friend, Master Chan, leave.
Next, we drove to Zhengzhou, a less than 2-hour drive. I put on my iPod & I swear to God, I didn't think I fell asleep at all, but what felt like 30 minutes later, we were already in Zhengzhou! It's like I missed the entire highway driving. As we drive through Zhengzhou city center (very busy & congested with traffic...compared to the tranquil cool mountain city of Dengfeng), Haibo points out the 2.7 Memorial Tower, a very obviously old building in the middle of this modern city. Then, he points out to the right out of the windows our hotel...dang, it was a massively huge yellow round building!!! We were told there was a Spinnaker type restaurant on top...SWEET! When we get to the hotel, we go through the usual sweaty, hot mess of getting our bags & standing in the lobby to get our room keys. **** & I are in Room 9014...not too shabby, but a small room. We relax for a bit by watching the end of Mission Impossible 3 & then head out to do some shopping. The hotel was in the midst of what is known as the 100-year-old street...just a very long strip of shopping...everything from department stores to street stalls. We first head out as a group with the Malden group, but quickly go our separate ways when ****, **** & I want McDonald's McFlurries. **** has to poo, so heads back to the room. The 3 of us then walk around for about an hour, but nothing looks interesting. We head back to the hotel. Some of the main group had earlier gotten cash or vouchers or something from Sipoh because they wanted to get pizza for dinner (now that we were in a major city again). The rest of us walk to the restaurant where dinner was arranged which I could only describe as in a mall food court. The food was fine...nothing special, except they started with French fries O.O
On the way back to the hotel, we're allowed to meander and shop for a bit. We find a cutesy shop where I bought OPI glitter polish & a cute panda microSD card reader. On the street, **** buys 3 fake LV cosmetic bags & I get a Tous one. I think they're so cute & not horribly obviously fake. **** is very happy. Back at the hotel, I inquire about foot washing, but **** doesn't want to do it. On the way back to the room, we run into a bunch of the guys who were going foot washing, so I conveniently joined them. We only had to go to the 7th floor & I felt it was weird as that whole spa was run by men, but whatevs. We were escorted into a room that had 5 chairs which was perfect for us...4 guys and then little ol' me...hahaha! I felt bad for **** & **** as they had men for foot massagers since they obviously wanted women. I would have traded but I wanted to be rubbed by a woman as I didn't want TOO much pressure after being sore from training. I totally fell asleep & don't remember her massaging my right foot & leg. For 128 yuan, it was a foot washing with a double soaking, thigh percussions & then the reclining chair was made flat, so I could flip onto my stomach where she rubbed my back. Not bad! After that as we were leaving, **** & the kids were playing pool just outside of the foot washing spa. They were waiting for foot washing too, but the hotel didn't have enough masseuses, so they were basically waiting for us to be done. Teeheehee :) Then, I finally went upstairs, took a nice long hot shower to finally feel clean again & went to sleep.
Day #11: So, we wake up EARLY for a change which is really different this trip. In 2001, I felt like we were always getting 6:00 wake up calls. We head back to the SHAOLIN TEMPLE at 7 to be there for 7:30. The surprise show was that the abbott had invited us back to do a show for him! Craaaaazy!!! When we first get there, it's raining again (what a surprise), so we kind of wait in the bus while they set up. Then we form our lines with the flag out in front & march over to the front of the Pagoda Forest. The monks had set up a table that was full of flowers & fruit. After lining us up properly & bowing in, they did a special ceremony for us that I still have to find out what exactly was done...I'm sure some sort of blessing. The monks chanted, sang, hit wooden & bell instruments & Master Chan yelled out the proper times for us to be bowing...hahaha!
When that was all done, we were led again to the Shaolin Temple into a back area that looked more like a warehouse & we were told later it was the monks' training hall. I guess they originally wanted the demonstration outside, but because of the rain, it was held in there. We started right away with the program we did in Hong Kong. Everyone did fairly well. For me, it was particularly special & SOOO surreal. In front of the abbot, the head monk of the FAMED Shaolin Temple, the very *source* of Chinese kung fu in many people's minds...I performed my Shaolin form in front of him. Incredible! To this day, I still can't believe I did it (and didn't mess up)! After that, the monks also demonstrated, but even though there was a big crowd of them with weapons & everything, there was only like 4-5 programs. My thinking was the time frame was running too long, so we only watched a short exchange. The abbot then talked to us & told us that with all the groups coming through there doing kung fu, that we were the best! Yay us!
Then, we left the Temple. Next, we headed to a sightseeing spot, Zhongyue Temple, to tour for a little bit. This is the part of the trip when it's pretty much you've seen one temple, you've seen them all. We walk through, take pictures & unfortunately the rain made it all kinda miserable :( After that we head to lunch, which Haibo surprised us with a new place...a Beijing style restaurant that seemed expensive. I guess after complaining of the other place, he brought us here which we LOVED! Not only was the food *different* but very, very delicious!!!
Post-lunch, we head back to the hotel for our afternoon training. It was rough...my body was still sore, but not too bad. I pushed through. It was my thighs above my knees that were killing me. We finished the second form. Hooray! After that, we showered, relaxed & went back to the Beijing restaurant for dinner where Master Liang surprised us by joining us! I guess since it was our last night in Dengfeng :( Not only did he grace us with his presence, but they arranged a special treat of Peking duck for us which was soooo good...not greasy or anything! Also, I was extremely psyched to have learned how to professionally roll a Peking duck pancake! Can't wait to bring those skills back & try it in the US! Finally, after dinner, ****, **** & I headed back to the Shaolin shopping center across from the hotel *one* last time. We had asked Haibo to have the bus drop us off at some other shops that were further away from the hotel to shop at & then we'd walk back, but he misunderstood & dropped us off at the regular one that we had been going to all this time. We felt a little sheepish that we asked him to do that & it was just the regular shops, but we had to get off the bus...hahaha! So, our last chance items...I only ended up buying black Feivues (for less than $3USD). Then, back to hotel. I *finally* checked out the kids playing up in the badminton/ping pong room on the 7th floor since I had never been up there & it was our last night, then headed to bed.
Day #10: Another full day of training. We spent the morning session from 8:30-11 reviewing the first Shaolin form we learned and then starting the second form...which is kinda same, but a lot different too from the first form. I love it...different enough, but with similar enough techniques to get the two forms mixed up...ha! After that, we head to lunch...guess where? Yup, the same restaurant we'd been eating like the past 5 meals. The bus driver tricked us too because he took a different route, so we got excited as we thought we drove down a different street, but it was the same street & we just came at the restaurant from the *other* direction. DOH! After that, we were told that we were going to a sword factory. Now, I was excited! In 2001, we toured a sword factory & watched weapons being made and were able to peruse though dozens and dozens of weapons. Although I didn't buy it at that factory, my most prized double-edged sword I did obtain from that China trip. However, the sword factory we went to today was totally NOT a sword factory. What **** & I had been waiting for all these days was a total disappointment. It was more like a fancy showroom of swords that I felt weren't even really functional working training weapons...more like display replicas, which is fine if you wanted something just to hang on the wall. I personally like to be able to swing my weapons around...call me *crazy.* In any case, **** & I decided to go get ice cream at a local mom & pop shop before we get back on the bus to wait for everyone to come back from buying their weapons. We head back for the afternoon training session which was learning way more & now we're about almost halfway through with the second Shaolin form. After that, we again head to dinner, yup same EXACT place, but I guess now Haibo had said something to the staff because the food was totally different. We had things like fried chicken wings & fried pineapple fritters. It's kinda weird that they must have thought that all we Americans wanted was fried stuff, but HEY, it was good & different! I may like their spicy chicken dish, but I can't eat it for 6 meals in a row! After dinner & back at the hotel, we had more relaxation time, so ****, **** & I went back to the Shaolin shops across the street & bought the stuff we browsed through the other day...a green school uniform for each of us, **** bought a green satiny kung fu uniform & shoes & I bought 2 satiny uniforms & shoes for Mrs. So. We ran across the way to another store where I finally bought **** (if you know me at all IRL, you know these weapons I've been wanting for well over a decade)! So excited...hope I actually get to use them some day. We get back to the hotel in time for a run through of the show for the next day, basically the same programs we did in Hong Kong. Tomorrow, I will say WHERE the show is ;)
technorati tags: China, Hong, Kong, sword, factory, Shaolin, weapon
technorati tags: China, Hong, Kong, sword, factory, Shaolin, weapon
