Intro to Tokyo

• Woke up at 6:45 and left room by 7:15.
• Went to ask the concierge for directions to the Shinagawa Station (they weren't there, but reception helped me). I also asked them to call and confirm my tour, but when they dialed the number nobody picked up. I set out at 7:30 (Google said it would take 30m, and I needed to make it by 8:20).
• Made it to Shinjuku Station by 8:00, and had some trouble finding the right exit to take, but my gps helped me figure out where I was and compare that with my map of where I should be.
• I also had trouble getting out of the gates from the train...it was saying my 170-yen ticket was invalid for some reason (that's the fare I was quoted from the kiosk when I had come in the morning), but on the second attempt I happened to walk fast enough that I made it through the doors, so I just left...
• When I got to the LOVE Monument, I saw a large bus with 2 ladies standing outside. I went up to them and said "I'm looking for a Tokyo tour I should be scheduled for," and they asked for my name. I told them and they said I was on their list. Phew! I found the right place (and with about 5 minutes to spare)!
• I was the third person on, the other 2 being Adrian (a corrections officer) and Junior (an Integrated Circuits engineer) from the Phoenix area.
• Our tour guide, Levin, came on. Apparently the 2 ladies were just there to check names off the list.
• We had to wait about another 10 minutes for the last 2 (Kelvin and Peter, recent graduates from Australia) to make it, but then we left. Kelvin gave us audioguide players to hook on our ears, but throughout the day he was usually saying something at the same time so I didn't get much from the audioguide when it came on to say things. A lot of the times he was saying the same thing.
• Our first stop was the Imperial Palace's inner-garden. The emperor still lived in the palace, so unlike Beijing we were not allowed to go into the royal living area.
• The imperial garden wasn't that exciting, but you can see where the cherry blossoms WILL be in about a month. (all the trees are dormant now).
• Most of the original was destroyed in WWII, but it has been rebuilt in the same way (so they say).
• When we got back to the bus, the last 2 people (Bankers Alexandro & Rosaria from Mexico City, who had pre-arranged to meet up with us late) were already on.
• Next, we drove to Asakusa and stopped at the Senso-ji shrine, which has been around for about 1400 years.
• Levin told us that to distinguish a temple (Buddhist) from a shrine (Shinto), look for the gate out front - only the shrines will have them.
• He said the process at a shrine is to smell burning incense (cleanse your mind), wash your hands in the pool of water (cleanse your body), approach the altar, throw your money in (only 5 and 50 denomination coins ok because they have a hole in the middle and that's helpful for some reason), make a wish, bow 2 times. The only difference for doing it at a non-main shrine (there was one next to the big one because the big one gets too crowded) is that you have to ring a bell after the money and before the bell (because the spirit is already 'close to you' at the big place, but for the smaller ones you need to draw their attention). I did not do this, but watched as several others did.
• There is also a building (actually a few buildings) with what looks like little mail slots. You're supposed to put 100 yen in, then pick a box and open it. If the fortune inside is good, you keep it with you. If it's bad, they have a place for you to tie it (and later all the tied fortunes will be torched so they will not come true)
• We were left to run around this place for 40 mins, so I first went to the nearby Kaminari-mon Gate, which leads up to the shrine.
• Nakamise Shopping Avenue lies between the gate and the shrine, and was packed. Levin gave us 35 mins to walk around, and said it would take 15 to walk through the crowd to the gate (distance-wise it should be just 3-5 mins away).
• Next stop: Tsukiji Fish Market
• There are 2 parts, inner and outer. Inner is the wholesale part for shop owners to come negotiate (more like yell about) prices on fresh fish (tuna go for ~1500 USD, and it goes bad after a day so now I understand why they make sushi so expensive especially if it's a place that makes it fresh. The outer part is what we saw, which is basically just hundreds of vendors and thousands of locals & tourists. There are tons of free samples as you walk along, so I tried a bunch of stuff (and will probably go back to buy some on my free day).
• The city said they would be moving the inner part to the Koto area in November, with the outer part to follow, but it was delayed for some unknown reason. This is apparently how it always goes in Tokyo when the government says they're moving something.
• Adrian, Junior, and I all apparently misunderstood Levin's directions, because we ended up at the end of the large street with nobody else. The narrow side-streets is where all the action was, so we went down those together trying samples.
• Levin had recommended that we try the scrambled eggs, so we did. It was a thick hunk served on a Popsicle stick with what tasted like sauerkraut. It's made in these tall square pans, and to the Japanese it is weird to use salt with eggs because they prefer them with sugar. So the eggs were actually kinda sweet, which I thought was weird but not bad.
• Back to the bus, and we crossed the Rainbow Bridge to Odaiba to eat lunch at Aqua City. Odaiba was originally used for military purposes as protection for Tokyo harbor, but now has some futuristic buildings like an observatory, some residential areas, and a theme park (I think)
• There's a big robot sculpture that is famous for something. It looked kinda like the combined power rangers guy.
• Tokyo's Statue of Liberty is also over there, with a nice background of the Rainbow Bridge (which, by the way, is all-white but gets lit up with rainbow colors at night).
• Aqua City is like a mall, and on the first floor there's a human robot that speaks (but her language was set to Chinese, so I'm not sure what she said). There's also a hologram menu that was kinda cool to swipe through.
• We are lunch at "The Oven," which said it was an American Buffet. Levin assured us that it used to be a Japanese buffet but too many tourist clients were passing it up in lieu of something  that reminded them of home, so they rebranded and added some American things (which really is just a smash of many cultures' foods). The Japanese section was tiny though (some corn salad thing, potato tempera, and one kind of sushi roll that was meh), so it was basically an American buffet...(think french fries, fried chicken, pizza, scalloped potatoes, pork tenderloin, plus tacos and Thai curry and lo mein).
• Levin said we had to try melon soda, which tasted like carbonated Midori
• There was a really extensive dessert bar that we tried most of. It included some pink & clear jello, mochi, pumpkin/strawberry/mango puddings, cheesecakes, brownies, and fondue
• We met back up with the Arizonans, who had not included lunch with their tour, and hot on a "cruise" that crossed from Odaiba to *** (more like a ferry).
• After that, the tour was done, the bus had a few drop off points (Ginza, Tokyo Tower, Shibuya, Harajuku, Shinjuku). All but the Arizonians got off at Shibuya and went up to the Starbucks to watch the Shibuya Crossing.
• Other than the crossing, the only thing in Shibuya is malls which are famous for attracting foreign celebrities. I tried to find the main one but made a wrong turn, so I gave up and walked north to Harajuku
• Got to the Main Street in Harajuku, Takeshita Street (Yeah, I laughed a little too). It's famous for all the cosplayers that walk up and down in full costume, but I only saw 2 (it's apparently more popular on the weekends). Along the street there were plenty of shops selling outfits like the crazy ones I have seen online
• There's a New Zealand Cookie Time there! I stopped in and the staff were all Kiwis. No fresh hokey pokey cookies though :(
• Wound my way through what I guess was some residential area to get up to Shinjuku. I was trying to follow the train tracks to make sure I didn't get lost, but apparently the main roads beer off other directions.
• It was about 6:20, and I knew the Godzilla at Hotel Gracery was going to roar at 7pm so I went there first. I actually found it a lot sooner than I thought I would, so I strolled through the nearby Don Quixote shop, where Levin said I could find the best souvenirs.
• There were lots of snacks and underwear and some Halloween costumes, but nothing really appealing. I also found a corner of the store that was only dildos, lube, hentai, sketchy pills, and lingerie...k
• Left and walked up to the hotel to get a closer look at the Godzilla 
• I was asked by one guy on the way if I wanted a massage, and when I said no he said ok. It felt so good to be listened to!
• A sign said that the Godzilla was on the 8th floor, so I went up. When I got there I walked to the patio outside and passed a sign saying "hotel and cafe guests only," but nobody stopped me.
• There was a guard out on the patio, and I used Google Translate to ask him if it would be better to watch the roar from up here or on the street. He said up, so I hung around for 20 mins to see it.
• Lots of people came and went, but nobody else seemed to be there for the roar. Maybe they thought it was too cold to wait (and that's why the rules were lax?).
• When I went back down, there was a hotel security guard at the elevator that had not been there before. Maybe I just got lucky.
• While leaving the hotel I saw a sushi place with a sampler for 1500 yen, so I stopped in. It was nice, but they eventually got 2300 yen out of me because there was a hidden 'table fee' (Levin had said they didn't do that within Tokyo...), and I ordered shochu (tasted like flavored water, by the waiter said it had 15% apv).
• Apparently there's a cafe near there that has robots come up and perform by your table. I didn't go see it (was full from dinner, my feet were starting to hurt, and it was already 8pm), but I read about it and saw it in passing. Not sure how cool it really is, but if it's anything like the robot from the mall in Odaiba it might be kinda creepy and cool to see.
• Tried to pass by a capsule hotel to see what I looked like
• Not exciting at all...just looks like an office building. The one I have seen in pictures looked much cooler but it's out by the airport.
• Walked back to Shinjuku station. These ticket kiosks didn't have English as an option so I went to the ticket sales booth.
• The lady here said the ticket was 200 yen, so I asked why it had only been 170 in the other direction. Apparently it was also supposed to be 200, so we just awkwardly laughed about it and I left with my new ticket. This one gave me no problems when I got out at Shinagawa station.
• Got back to hotel and got my 500 yen voucher from the receptionist (part of their "green cleaning" program - if you elect to not have the maid service then they give you 500 yen each time you don't use it). I also signed up for the next day.
• Tried to write bullets, but fell asleep (which was probably for the best because I had to be up early for the Mt. Fuji tour the next morning)

To Tokyo

• Woke up at 4:45, went to get my boxed breakfast from the concierge at 5:15, and down to meet the bus at 5:45.
• Bus had ~8 others on it, and my hotel was apparently the last because we went straight to the airport. We got there right at 6:15.
• Check-in lines weren't long at all and security/immigration didn't take too long. I was at my gate by 6:50 (boarding time is 8:25, departure at 9:05). Wrote bullets up until here while waiting.
• Flight was pretty smooth.
• I watched Keeping Up with the Joneses and Trolls
• We were served chicken sausage, potatoes, eggs, 2 cherry tomatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, strawberry yogurt, a roll, black tea, apple juice, and water.
• The plane had a camera underneath that we were able to watch on our screens, which was pretty cool during landing (especially since I couldn't see out the window)
• Immigration a didn't take very long, and my bag was already on the carousel when I got there. Nice job, NRT.
• Left baggage claim to find a guy with my name on a sign. He asked if I had anything to do at the airport before leaving, so I asked to exchange some money (my last 40 USD) and buy a 24-hr subway pass for my free day (800 yen). Then he confirmed the return trip with me (7:30am on 3/3 back to the airport), led me out to a bus, and by 2:10 I was on my way to the hotel.
• There were about 10 others on the bus with me, and my stop was the second. It took about 1.5 hours to get to the first stop, during which I fell asleep because 1) the bus was warm, 2) the view was boring, and 3) I had woken up at 4:45 that morning.
• Got to the hotel and it looked so fancy inside! I went to check in and was told there were multiple reception desks and I was actually in a hotel on the side, which had a much less opulent reception area.
• My original reservation had apparently been for a smoking room, but they were able to change it. When I got to my room it looked kinda like an apodment...very cramped quarters with a twin bed, porta-pottie-sized bathroom (but with a bidet!), and a window the width of 2 hands (looking towards the fancy hotel's tower).
• There was a card in my room that said if I opt out of cleaning the hotel will give me 500 yen/day, so I'm gonna plan to do that all 3 days if I can.
• There isn't much around my hotel (but the hotel itself is a pretty big complex of shops and restaurants and a bowling alley and an aquarium), so I didn't leave the hotel. I went to get dinner at the food court which ran me 830 yen.
• Made sure to triple-check the directions to the Love Monument near Shinjuku Station. That's where I need to meet my group tomorrow for my tour (should be a 20-30 min trip there, so I'm planning on leaving at 7:15 to be there by 8:20 since I'm sure I'll get lost at least once).

Free Day in HK

• Woke up at 7:45, made it to breakfast by 8 and let myself take the full hour to eat slower and try everything I wanted to.
• THEY HAVE NATTO HERE. I even saw someone take some of it (how can they stand it??)
• Left the hotel around 9:45 to the Tsim Sha Tsui MRT subway station, rose to Mong Kok and transfered to the green line to come up at Diamond Hill. The escalator up put me in the Plaza Hollywood Shopping Mall, but I got out and went towards the nunnery. Before I got there, I saw the entrance for the *** garden, which I knew was associated with the nunnery. What I didn't know is that they are the same, so the entrance I went in was for both (and free). It was just a nice place to look at the plants and koi in the pond and chillax for a bit.
• Took subway to Mong Kok, where the concierge said I could find a souvenir. One street was all electronics, one was all clothes, and one was all pet fish (not what I had expected when he said it was a "fish market."
• I ended up finding ONE vendor on a side street and buying a horse painting. Who knows if I'll actually use it, but I have it :P
• Walked to Tsim Sha Tsui and found the hop-on/hop-off bus with the intention of riding the full loop.
• When we got to the Central Pier (on the Hong Kong Island side), I was asked to leave. They said all passengers had to exit at this stop, and since my pass was only good for one hop-on I would need to purchase another one-way for 35 HKD.
• Instead, I bought a 3.40 HKD ferry ticket back to Tsim Sha Tsui, stuck it in my pocket, and decided to walk around while I was here. I knew SoHo (one of the artisan areas) wasn't too far so I tried to find it with my map. I eventually came across a place that was packed with people, so I'm assuming that was it.
• Walked around looking to see if I could find a postal card or a souvenir I might like better, but basically everyone was selling the same stuff - traditional female Chinese shirts, or watches.
• I stopped by a bakery I passed to try the egg tart (haven't had one in Asia), and it was so good!
• Walked back to the ferry with the intention of taking it and going back to Tim Ho Wan again (so cheap and so good!), and asking my concierge where in the heck to find a postcard.
• Right by the pier there was a music festival going on (Dragonland), so I walked over to see the lineup. Mike Posner was the voice I was hearing, and Carly Rae Jepson was next. I sat down nearby to type bullets up until here and pass time until she started. I wasn't willing to pay 1000 HKD to get in, but wanted to see if she sounds the same in-person as she does recorded. It sounded great, but when did she get short blonde hair?? I was one of 20+ people standing and watching the screen from outside of the gates, and I'm surprised the guards were ok with that.
• Took the ferry back, meaning to sit on the Hong Kong Island facing side, but apparently the ferry can drive in either dorection without having to turn around. Oh well.
• Walked to my hotel to drop off my bag and count my money. I had 82 HKD, so I kept my plan to go try more things at Tim Ho Wan. I gave up my idea of finding another postcard because I didn't want to add on another thing to do.
• Now that I knew where I was going, I made it there in only about 20 mins (Google thinks it's a 30-35 min walk)
• Ordered all-different things, and unfortunately they were out of one of them so I tried to exchange that item for another and the waitress was not having it. I couldn't tell if they were also out of the replacement options I gave, or if their system wouldn't let them edit an order once it's places. She just kept saying no.
• If you've been to a dim sum restaurant you know that ordering is not like a normal restaurant. You fill out the card and they take it. At Tim Ho Wan, when they take your order card a receipt is generated for you to hand the cashier when you're done.
• Since I now had 23 extra HKD that I thought I wouldn't have, I went into the Olympian City mall to Gong Cha, a bubble tea place I had seen yesterday. I got a taro milk tea with boba (my go-to), and it came out to 21 HKD. 2 isn't enough to get anything, so I guess that'll just be a souvenir.
• Walked back to the hotel (9:30) to pack and post pictures and get ready for Tokyo! My ride comes at 5:45am.

HK Island

• Woke up at 7:15 and made it to breakfast by 7:30
• Buffet was great! I'm glad this is the one I get to have again at a more leisurely pace on my free day.
• Went down at 8:10 for my 8:15 pickup, and saw a big tour bus and group outside. I asked the receptionist if she knew if that was the Hong Kong Island group, and she asked if there was a number she could call to confirm. I told her I would just ask the group outside but she said it would be better to call in case that was the wrong group going to a similar place. While I was talking with her a guy came up and asked if I was William. I said yes and he told me he had been waiting by the concierge desk (in the other building). Whoops.
• This guy put me in a 25-person bus, which I found out was just to transport me to the bigger one for the tour, which could seat 50. There were 26 of us on the tour, and my small van was the second-to-last to arrive.
• The guide (Rex) came on the bus mic and talked with us the whole way between each stop. He was a great guide and pointed things out to us along the way (and was funny). Unfortunately this tour also eemed like this was a shopping tour with certain un-included parts I had to pay extra for (which I had not anticipated)
• On our way to the island, we went in a tunnel under Victoria Harbor. This was the first (45 years old) of 3 underwater tunnels between HKI and Kowloon, and also the most congested because each way is 10HKD whereas the other two are 45HKD.
• Our first stop was the tram up Victoria Peak, which was very steep! The ride took about 8 mins.and we were at a 45° angle for most of it.
• Before we got there, the guide told us that we would need to pay 50HKD to go to the top ("the tallest 360° observation deck in Hong Kong"), because the tram would only take us to the station near the top. I asked if we would even be able to see anything and he said "oh yes, today is a very clear day." I disagreed.
• While getting off the bus, the woman across the aisle told me to go first and said "I'm with him," pointing to her husband. He laughed and said "she means to say that the man is old." This was Lloyd and Joyce, a couple originally from orlando, but more recently from the Philippines where Joyce grew up.
• When we got to the tram stop, there was a mall with a food court and a free observation deck, so we were released to do whatever we wanted for about 30 mins and I went straight to the observation deck.
• Yep, there was fog all around us. Even better, from this deck you could see the top, which was only slightly taller than where I was. Money well saved.
• I spent the rest of the time strolling through some shops, but the vendors started to get a little pushy do I removed myself and tried going up as many escalators as I could before I would have needed a pass to the rooftop.
• I came across some 3-D art gallery that had free admission (I've come to feel REALLY skeptical when anything is 'free'), and tried going in.
• About halfway through is where you find the photographers who want to take your picture interacting with the art. I was about 5 mins away from my group's rendezvous time, so I started saying no (other than that, the pictures were kinda fun to act with). When I got to the end they tried to sell me the pictures for 160 HKD each
• Met up with the group and we went to our bus, which had driven up to meet us (so we wouldn't have to pay for the ttam again).
• Next stop was the Aberdeen Fishing Village, which the guide really pushed as 'the highlight of the tour' of course, it was 60 HKD if you actually wanted to participate.
• I had only brought along 80 HKD with the intention of buying something when we went to Stanley Market, so I held back with some others on the dock. The guide saw us and came over to collect our money and we said we didn't really want to go. But he said the boats would be out for 30+ minutes, and this was really the apex of the day, and and and...eventually the others caved in, so I decided to go too.
• The boat was a huge disappointment and not at all worth the 60 HKD. We drove from the dock to some crappy-looking house boats, passing a huge floating restaurant that you could see from the dock. Maybe this would have been cooler if I hadn't already seen crappy house boats in Vietnam and Cambodia and Thailand...I just wasn't very happy with it. And 30+ mins was such an exaggeration! We were maybe out for 15 mins.
• There was a loud group of 4 40-50 year old ladies from Miami who were on my boat with me, and they were really interested in asking about where I had been and where I was going and why would I come alone...They wanted others on the boat to take a lot of photos of them (but returned the favor by taking a few of the other 3 people - Lloyd & Joyce, and me).
• Next we went to a the Dynasty Jewelry Manufacturer, which was promised to only take 30 minutes, but then Rex made us stay for about an hour...
• We were first asked to listen to some lady tell us about how they use only 16 and 18 carat gold,  and they import gems from all over the world, and talk about different Chinese zodiac symbols because they make a pendant for each of them. Then she took us to the showroom, where the salespeople were literally waiting on either side of the door and latched on as we shuffled in through the single-file door. I was able to shake mine off pretty quickly by saying I don't have a girlfriend and going to the restroom. There was a small place at the opposite end of the showroom with free water where most of us naturally congregated after just a few minutes (and exchanged hushed whispers about how we felt like we could hardly breath with all the sales hawks around us). Rex just stood there for about 50 minutes, and I went to talk to him about the next place we were going (Stanley Market). I confirmed that it was just a small street market that probably wouldn't accept cards, and said I only had 20 HKD after the boat ride. He laughed at me for only having 80 HKD in my pocket, so I guess it's just normal for everyone to carry a couple thousand around with them? It would certainly make sense since the economy is mostly cash-based (despite what my hotel's welcome book says...).
• When we left, I think the shop got maybe 3 purchases out of us. One of them was a ring for Lloyd, who announced to a few of us "it took me 45 years, but I finally said yes." 
• We finally left and went to Stanley Market, which was basically some cramped streets of vendors with all kinds of things to sell. The Miami group invited me to eat lunch with them, but I was wanting some alone time and was also a little embarassed that I didn't have any money with me. I walked through the streets to see if I could even find anything I was interested in, but didn't. At the end, I came to a bunch of boulders out in the water that a bunch of people were taking pictures on. I went to one of the furthest ones and sat down to watch the waves for a little bit while I ate a granola bar. We only had 35 minutes here, and we left at 2:05.
• On our way there, we passed an overlook of a horse racing track. Rex said we should go to see the races, but not get involved in betting because the local people are INSANE about betting (since they would have to go to Macau for actual gambling, this is their alternative). He said that in 2016 over 107 BILLION USD was put into horse-betting (for reference, Hong Kong's international airport was 35 billion USD to build).
• On the way back, we passed Repulse Bay Beach (one of the most popular in Hong Kong, but not now when it's cold). On the island's edge that juts out next to the beach, Jackie Cahn's house is at the end. I was on the wrong side of the bus to see the house (you had to look up the face of the wall next to the road because it's on the side of a steep hill), but I saw the driveway!
• After about an hour we dropped off at each hotel (using the big bus. Soetimes it had to let out across the street like they did at mine, but that wasn't a big deal). Rex gave us all vouchers to take the hop-on/hop-off operated by Grey Line Tours (the operator of thsi tour), but it's only good for one 'hop-on'. I think I'll use it tomorrow.
• Took a 1.5 hour nam (was supposed to be just 20 mins...), then decided to exchange my last 9 USD (got 65.70 HKD) and walk to To Hai Wan for dim sum. This place is the cheapest Michelin star restaurant in the world (well, was until some place in Singapore recently beat them out), with each plate costing around 20 HKD. But the way dim sum works is you order several plates of different things, so I ended up spending 65 HKD (9 USD) here.
• Got BBQ Pork Buns, Rice with spare ribs and chicken feet, and fried rice dumplings with a pork filling. The buns were especially good because the bread they used was different than any other than I had seen.
• The restaurant was on the outside of the Olympian City Mall, so I took a stroll through there and found a nice spot to watch the atrium crawl with people. I wrote most of these bullets while I was there.
• Walked back to the concierge and asked what I should do tomorrow. He suggested some markets, so I'll see if I end up in that area tomorrow. I've been told I shoudl go to the Chi Lin Nunnery, so I'm planning to start my day with that (but a little, because I'm ready for a day to sleep in!).

To Hong Kong

• Woke up around 3:30 with some wrenching gas pains that kept me awake for about an hour. I apparently did go back to sleep, brcause I woke up at 5:30 to an alarm.
• Packed final toiletries and met Suzy in the lobby. We drove aabotu 30 mins to the maglev station, but we had just missed the train. We waited 15 mins for the next one and 8 mins later were at Pudong International Airport. Amazing.
• Checked in for the flight (still no problem...must have just been a Beijing thing). Apparently my flight was 100% full, but my seat had been reserved ahead of time.
• Left Suzy and went through immigration, then security - flying to Hong Kong is considered to be an international hop.
• Loaded on a bus and was driven out to the plane. This plane took 3-4 full busloads of people, whereas the domestic flights I had taken could fit all passengers in one bus. It was a legit 2-aisle international plane.
• Served breakfast of fried noodle with chicken, 1 carrot, 1 slice of cantaloupe, watermelon, and dragonfruit, one roll, and OJ
• I watched the angry birds movie (why not?)
• Arrived and got bag from baggage claim
• Had been wondering how the suitcases were so neatly stacked together on the belt, but then noticed there was a lady whose job it was to organize the luggage as it came through.
• A guy holding a sign with my name said hello and walked me to the "Vigor Hotel Transfer" desk to get the Vigor ladies to tag me and my suitcase.
• When the lady wanted to put a sticker on me, she reached over and did it while saying "excuse me sir, may I?" Didn't bother me at all, but it surprised me because something like that would not fly in mainland China. Everyone pretty much keeps to themselves unless they're trying to invade your space (like a street haggler).
• Was sent to wait at some nearby seats, and the boy who had gotten my attention stood and talked with me for a bit (he had a big stack of names, but said the next one wouldn't arrive for an hour or more).
• He didn't introduce himself and I forgot to ask for his name, but he said he's lived in Hong Kong his whole life. After he confirmed my itinerary with me, I asked some about education and when he learned his English, and he said it all came from public school (they get the full 12 years here, like America). He definitely had an accent, but there didn't seem to be any language barrier between us (whereas the other guides had to major in English at University)
• The Vigor lady came to take me to the bus along with several others in the waiting area (at one point she crammed us in an elevator and said "you meet me downstairs." Then she took the escalator...why)
• We dropped off at 2 hotels first (the first of which was Disneyland's Hollywood Hotel), then mine was the last.
• They drive on the wrong side of the road here too! Thanks Britain.
• The lobby for my hotel is up above street-level, so the driver had to go up a parking structure to get me there. Seemed a little confusing, but he got me there.
• My room is compact, like the one in Seoul, but I looked around for 5 whole minutes to find an outlet. They're all behind the walls! I finally found 2 under a cover on my desk, but was completely unprepared to deal with an outlet like THAT.
• I went down and asked the concierge for a converter, but he said there should be one in my desk drawer. I thought by desk didn't have drawers, but I told him I would look. My desk, in fact, did not have drawers, but I tried all the drawers and found 2 converters in the bedside table.
• Indulged in catching up on facebook and posting pictures for a couple hours (writing captions is a lot of work!)
• Tried to find nearby things on the map, but eventually settled on just walking around aimlessly, with a loose goal of seeing what Kowloon Park was like.
• Got down to Canton street and had to go across like 4 differently-timed crosswalks to cross to the east side of the road. Wasn't sure if left or right would let me get into the park, so I randomly picked left.
• Walked for a bit until I saw a bunch of people going into what looked like a mall, so I followed (maybe it would be a tall one with a perch at the top), but it turns out it was just a 2-story small mall, where a wedding reception was happening.
• I walked out the other side of the mall and down Austin St until I happened to see a Kowloon Park sign. I turned into the gate next to the map and strolled through.
• There's nothing super impressive that I saw, other than the fact that there are some trees and water in the middle of Hong Kong.
• Saw a sign for Canton St. And I followed it. Turns out this put me on a pedestrian bridge over Canton St. that connected directly from Kowloon Park to my hotel. Welp.
• On the same level as the bridge, there was a pier that went out into the harbor. I walked along it to the end (a few people were running out to the end, but other than that it was deserted). The wind was a little strong, but the view of Hong Kong Island was great!
• Walked southbound along Canton to see what I could find, and came across an area with a rooftop garden and a tower with a ball on top. There was some history to read about the ball, which said that it drops at exactly 1:00 each day (now it's just for tradition). This used to be visible by ships in Victoria Harbor, so they could adjust their clocks to the appropriate time no matter where they had come from.
• Walked around semi-aimlessly, making sure to keep in mind how I could get back to the hotel, and came across a small restaurant with pictures posted outside. I went in and pointed to what I wanted, which ended up being like Pad Se Eww, not too bad.
• Then back to the hotel via a couple of side-streets. I tried to write bullets then, but fell asleep.

Seeing Shanghai

• Woke up at 7:15, and got to breakfast at 8.
•      Buffet with the usual rice and noodles, but also had buns and dumplings and salads and Lanzhou noodles and lots of pastries.
• When I went back to my room, the air coming from the vent smelled like cigarette smoke, so I told the receptionist when I went down to meet Suzy.
• Went to Temple of Jade Buddhas first, which has...2 jade Buddhas. One holds a record as the biggest in the world, and while it was only ~1 X 1.5 X 0.5 square meters, it's 100% white jade. The white Jade is apparently softer than others, so it is very fragile, but also somehow makes the figure look softer. Some monk brought it back after his pilgrimage to Burma.
•      The second one was a reclining Buddha. I finally got the scoop on this: he's supposed to be on his deathbed, but it smiling because he feels his legacy will be carried on.
•      Suzy told me about the three levels of Buddhism: the first is Shakyamuni Buddha, which includes only the original Buddha. Then there are his primary disciples, Sravaka Buddha. Amitahba Buddhas are the last one, which are either evil spirits or men who have been enlightened by Buddha.
•      Suzy said her grandma is really Buddhist, her mom goes for the special 2 days each year (full moon and new moon), and she just goes once per year (lunar new year). Buddhism is the biggest religion here, but the vast majority of people subscribe to nothing or to the communist party (no religion allowed). Apparently joining the communist party is only required if you're trying to be a government worker, and joining requires a full background-check.
• Next we went to the Bund, where we walked about ¼ of the way down and back. The side we walked on has mostly British buildings (from the mid 1900s British Concession. Most of these are banks of hotels now), but faces the modern Shanghai buildings (including the famous TV tower that lights up liek a string of pearls).
• Next to Old Shanghai, where Suzy took me to a silk shop. Shops Suzy took me to were a little different than my other guides, because it was more like the Jade place where the woman didn't press to hard when I said I didn't want anything. There wasn't much pressure, and Suzy stayed with me the whole time.
• I've heard of the Silk Road (from Xi'an), but apparently Shanghai is considered the beginning of the "sea Silk Road." The climate is apparently really good for growing mulberry leaves (the only food a silkworm will eat), so a lot of silk is exported from here and sent to places like Thailand (where they have other processes for making it)
• Silkworm eggs start as these tiny little dots and after a few days become little squiggles (what bacteria would look like under a microscope). Then they start eating and grow FAST. The only things they do is sleep and eat (not so bad, right?). It only takes like 10 days for them to go from these tiny things to what looks like a large caterpillar. By that time a lot of their mass is the silk they're carrying, so when they're ready they spit the looooong single strand of silk out of their mouth to form a cocoon around themselves, and shrink to about ¼ of their size as a pupa inside. Naturally, they would be this way for a few days before biting a hole in the cocoon (ruining it for silk-making) and flying out with their wings. These are the mature adults who can make babies.
• To keep the single-stranded cocoon intact, the cocoons are boiled to kill the pupa, then a toothbrush is used along the exterior to find the end of the strand and that is wound around a gear in a machine. There are no tangles in these cocoons, so the machine can just pull away on the single strand, and it perfectly unravels. Usually a machine will pull from ~10 cocoons to make one strand on a spool. They make shirts, ties, scarves, jackets, robes, pants, underwear...any/all clothing out of silk!
• Since silk farms have so many worms living in such close quarters, sometimes when 2 of them spin their cocoons next to each other they get tangled together. The only thing they can do with those is make quilts. Workers use their hands to dig out the pupa remains, and pull the silk over a triangular horn, they put 10 layers (10 double-cocoons) on one horn. After drying, the thicker silk hood is submerged and stretched over a larger triangular horn, and 10 layers of the small hoods are used for that. They dry one more time, afte which they use scissors to cut halfway up the hood so it can flatten. Then several quilt makers each grab part and pull it over a mattress-sized pedestal. The number of layers here have to do with how warm you want it to be, but are usually like 50 (I think). So that's at least 10000 silkworms needed to make 1 quilt.
• We went from the silk shop to a jewelry and painting place, and the demonstration I got here was them harvesting the pearls from an oyster (25 of them in one shell)
• Went to a Chinese restaurant that looked pretty popular. Suzy said she comes here with many of her clients. She ordered rice, mushrooms in soy sauce, corn + ham salad, some soft fried chicken thing, and something that was really soupy and had a bunch of sprouts (a little spicy, and served with a small piece of bun bread).
• Next to the Yu Gardens, which is 5 hectares of land in the middle of the old city that used to belong to a government official back during the Ming Dynasty. The whole place is really pretty, with traditional-style buildings, koi fish swimming all over the place, and lots of rock from Lake Tai (~70km from Shanghai).
•      In the gardens, there was only one building that we were allowed in, and when we went in it turned out to be a souvenir shop with a bit of a pushy lady, but it helped to have Suzy there because when I said no they listened (and if not, Suzy could interject). One of the rooms there had a couple of artisans in it, a carver and a paper-cutter (think paper-snowflakes, but customized and SO DETAILED). I ended up buying a stamp that the carver was selling, which is a little Jade piece that he carved my name into. We'll see how often I use that, but if nothing else, it looks cool.
• Left the gardens and drove to Nanjing Road, which is for pedestrians only. All the shops along here are big name-brand department stores, so we just walked around outside. I asked Suzy to walk through a fruit stand with me to help me find mangosteen, since I didn't know what to look for, and she found it! Tasted like lychee, but the slices looked like a white clementine (in a hard brown shell).
• Suzy said they could drop me off wherever, so I asked her to tell the driver to take me back to the Bund (it was only 2...By the number of shops we went to I wonder if this was meant to be a shopping tour and since I wasn't really buying we just blew through it)
• Walked all the way down the Bund and back up to go a little ways down Nanjing Road. Found a shopping mall where I sat down to write bullets up until here.
•      The people watching wasn't all that great because there weren't very many shoppers and there were almost no places to sit...0 by the atrium where you could look down), but the escalators are curved! I was intrigued.
• Walked to the subway to buy my ticket (just to be sure I had it in case unforeseen circumstances made me not have enough yuan later...like finding something I wanted to buy or getting robbed, etc).
•      I was having trouble remembering if I was supposed to go to Changping or Changshou, but fortunately Google had saved my hotel's location offline for me! Thanks Google.
• I continued to walk along the pedestrian street until I got to the end, then I turned around and headed back to the bund. The sun was starting to set.
•      As I walked, TONS of people (male & female) approached me as I walked and asked me if I wanted a massage. Some included "it's from a young and very beautiful lady." I got to the point where I stopped saying "no" and just kept walking. One guy was following me and tried "you like massage, sir? Sir, you like sex?" I guess "are you fucking kidding me?" Translates universally to the same expression, because that question actually made me stop and look at this guy. He seemed to get it immediately and left to pester someone else.
• Made it to the bund, and I went up to one of the rooftop bars Suzy had told me about. This was the 9th floor of the House of Roosevelt hotel.
•      When I got to the roof, I picked the seat I wanted and sat for about 15 minutes before I realized none of the wait staff were even looking outside. It was pretty cold but the glass fence around the top was a good wind barrier and I had both jackets on. I went inside to get their attention and ordered a passion fruit cocktail (because an old fashioned sounded too boring).
•      The waitress seemed concerned for me and was like "please come inside. It's much warmer and you can always come out to take pictures." But I told her I liked the view, so she conceded with "I'll leave a table open for you."
• Got a passionfruit cocktail. I know, I know, but and Old Fashioned just sounded so boring when there were s many other great options. I think there are 2 types of guys in the world: Those who like girl drinks and those who just pretend to not like them.
• Stayed about an hour and a half munching on the complimentary peanuts and dried edamame that came with my drink
• Walked back to subway
• This time I had a little more fun with the massage people, though it was still pretty annoying. They would come up and say "hello!" and I would look at them and say "goodbye!" as I kept walking.
• The entry to the subway was broken, so anyone was allowed to get on (but if you didn't have a ticket, you wouldn't be able to get out at the other end).
• Wanted to confirm that Changshou (not Changping) was correct, but my phone had died while video-calling Dad from the free wifi at the bar. Fortunately I remembered correctly and came up at Changshou.
• For some reason, I decided to upset myself again trying to find the bing place, and was successful only in the upsetting. I retraced my steps from the day before but never found it again, Must've been closed for some reason with the garage door over it.
• As a consolation, I tried the bubble tea place in the indoor mall I had wandered in the day before. Theirs was better than coco's because it actually had the bobas, but when she asked if I wanted it warm I said sure and that was a mistake. Oh well, boba tea in the US is always cold, so I thought it might be interesting to try it warm. It's better cold.
• Packed, transferred pictures to computer, and wrote the rest of the bullets. Suzy will be here at 6:30am tomorrow!

To Shanghai

• Woke up at 6:10 and finished packing chargers and morning toiletries.
• Bing came at 6:45, and the receptionist packed 2 breakfasts for me (I found this out while I was in the car, so I gave one to Bing).
• As before, Bing was really inquisitive. I told him about my Chinese tourism experience on the river cruise (summary: the scenery is beautiful, but the service not so much). Bing thinks the tour guide made up the 'fee' I was supposed to pay yesterday.
• Seriously...he hardly has an accent. How has this guy never left China (except his one time in Tokyo)??
• When we got to the airport, he walked me in and had me fill out a feedback form ("not including yesterday"). I'm assuming all the confusion with this third-party tour service came about from the hiccup in scheduling.
• Security was fast and I made it through within about 10 mins. I made sure to take off my money-belt this time. Only mistake I made was I ran my boarding pass through the scanner, but they wanted to see it at the metal-detector.
• My gate was right in front of security (there aren't very many gates in Guilin), so I walked over there to re-situate myself after security. I was ready by 7:45 (boarding time 8:15), so I went ahead and wrote the bullets up through here.
• Got on the plane and it looked like my row was just me, but then some late people came and a Chinese woman sat by me. When it looked like boarding was done, she left to sit with her friends, but then the flight attendant said we were delaying departure because some passengers were not yet on board. Two of those guys sat by me (I'm guessing at least one was not in his assigned place...?), and as I tried to stand up and let them in they pushed me back into my chair and scooted across me. Really?
• After a bumpy flight I got my revenge, because as soon as those wheels touched down these two were READY TO GO, but I didn't want to stand and wait so I stayed seated with my backpack in my lap so they couldn't get back over me.
• The voucher for this flight said alcoholic beverages were free, but I found out that there was only beer (and it was 9am...). They did give us some food though: a roll, a muffin, peanuts, and a juice box with some strange apple/milk thing...?
• Got off the plane and realized I had left my binder on, so I turned around but the guard (who I was standing right next to) said I couldn't go unless I had my boarding pass...k. Fortunately, I was able to fish it out of my pocket and he let me go.
• There was a long hike to get to baggage claim! When I got there I looked for a money exchange place but still didn't see one, so I went out.
• I noticed that the airport had drinking water fountains! Haven't seen one of those in awhile (the water here isn't potable, but I guess they have some way to purify it en mass for these machines).
• My guide's name is Suzy. She's always lived in Shanghai, and graduated with a degree in English in 2000. She's been a tour guide ever since. She has a 12-year old daughter, so she and her husband are considering moving to Vancouver to let her go to High School. Shanghai has a population of about 7 million native people and 63 MILLION who have come here for work since it has built up so much as a financial hub for China, so the system is bursting.
• We talked about the Chinese education system: public education is paid for by the government for 9 years, and then there is an exam to see whether or not you get to go to high school. The passing rate for this is only 45%, and the best you can do without a higher education is vocational school to become a blue-collar worker. Once you make it through high school, there's another exam to see if you qualify for a specialization at a university. this funnel is much less extreme - 80% make it through - but if you're in that 20% it's back to the vocational route for you. Even if you do make it through the exams, the government isn't going to help you pay for anything (fortunately university here is only ~5000USD/yr). Suzy and her husband are worried that their daughter will be forced into something that will make her life much harder, a job like waitressing where you work long and hard days and don't make very much for it. The passing rates go down every year, because there's such an influx of people, so more people are trying to go with the private international school option if they can (costs ~100,000USD/yr. Wow)
• We also talked about the Chinese healthcare system: The government gives everyone 600 yuan per year to go towards minor illnesses like a cold, but whatever you don't use from this account rolls over to the next year. Usually a doctor's visit costs about 200 yuan. If you get really sick and have to go beyond the 600, it's up to you to pay about 1500 USD  before the government will start kicking in 50%. People past the retirement age of 55 (women)/60(men) get a special privilege to only have to pay about 500 USD before the government kicks in 80%. If you need something like an X-Ray, it can be as soon as same-day (if the hospital isn't busy), or as much as 2 days. Suzy is concerned about the healthcare in Canada, because even though it is government-paid, it can take you 2 weeks to be seen by a doctor.
• We walked to the Maglev Station and caught the train about 1 min before it left. This is now a standing type of train, so we needed to find seats. It was pretty full, but we found 2 that faced each other.
• There was a Korean girl (who lives in Japan) sitting next to Suzy, and she asked Suzy some questions about the train or suggestions for things to do in Shanghai once she heard us talking in English.
• The train goes up to 300 km/hr during the non-rush-hour times (up to 450 for a few hours each day). Watching things pass by in a blur doesn't look super different than you would expect, but when the train turns it leans to one side like an airplane. I also expected it to 'raise up' before we took off, but didn't feel s thing.
• We passed a train going in the opposite direction, but the whole thing was passed in less than the time it takes to blink!
• Once we got to the station (8 minutes after leaving the airport - a 40 min car ride away!), the girl from the train had a bunch more questions, which Suzy was kind to answer, but I could tell she was trying to leave her. She led me out of an "oversized luggage" exit and we made our escape to the car.
• We drove for about 45 mins (mostly talking about education and healthcare and housing) before we got to the hotel
• I got to my room and discovered that Snapchat and blogger work! Still no facebook or google though...
• The Internet connection here is really good! I tried to figure out what to go do, and wrote the bullets up until here while I had the time.
• Went down and got a map from the receptionist. She seemed to speak English, but when I asked for a recommendation she just pointed to a general area and said the map had plenty of information on it. Thanks.
• Also exchanged money. Here, they have a fancy machine that takes in the foreign bills and spits out yuan. it's really strict about the quality of the bills it will accept though, so I had to smooth out my bills and run them through a few times before it was willing to take them.
• Sat down in the lobby to examine the map for about 10 mins. There isn't much near my hotel other than the Jade Buddha (part of the tour tomorrow), but there were several 'points of interest' that I thought I could walk to. I set out and found out very quickly that the weather was more rainey than it had been when I got to the hotel.
• I put the water cover on my camera bag, zipped my jacket up and kept walking. I was determined to not go sit in my hotel room during my free day in Shanghai.
• The plan was to start out at the intersection of Changshou & Changde, which was the general area the receptionist circled when I said "food." Whe I got there all I saw was KFC, Pizza Hut, and McDonald's. Great. I had passed a bing place on my way there (bing is the chinese word for a circle of baked dough, and I had read something saying I should try it while in Shanghai), but I wanted something more substantial and figured I would be coming back this way anyway.
• I turned and went down Changde to find the Jiang'an Temple, and I thought I had walked far enough but wasn't seeing it. I was getting frustrated because of the rain, so I decided maybe this itinerary I had made was going to be more work than fun (it was raining hard enough that I wouldn't have wanted my camera out anyway). I saw a small street that looked like it might have food, but it did not. So I basically just looped back around to Changde, but I stopped once to get a pork bun from "Best Bun." I was gonna swing back by the bung place and go to my hotel, but before I made it back the rain had made the sky so dark that a small mall I hadn't noticed before had it's big lights on outside. Technically, this was an outdoor mall, but there was a ceiling and that's all I wanted.
• Inside, there were a bunch of vendors, including a couple food ones. The one with the most people stuffed around it said it was a "Takoyaki Bar," and served these little fried balls (about the size of a donut hole). I accidentally looked at the pictures too long, so the lady started trying to talk to me. I ended up ordering some because I figured it would be something to try, but I'm pretty sure by the name that it was a Japanese place, and I've been trying to avoid eating at places that don't serve local cuisine. Oh well.
• These balls had stuff inside of them (tasted like some kind of mussel?), and were topped with these paper-thin slices of what I think was bacon. They weren't bad!
• I was in a much better mood after walking around and getting a little drier. There was a bubble tea place in this mall, but I decided to try another one I had passed because it claimed to be "the best," and was surrounded by locals.
• Got a little lost looking for the bubble tea place, but I found another mall to stroll through (not very many people inside).
• Left and found the bubble tea place (Coco's). They were playing Adele and their ad was in english, but their menu and staff were all chinese. I used Google translate to tell me what the menu said, and I ordered toffee milk tea. She asked if I wanted it hot our cold, and I said cold since I was planning to take it back to the hotel room (and it's bubble tea, so duh). She repeated the question like I had answered incorrectly, but this time she took the payment...and eventually gave me a drink that had no boba in it. The milk tea was fine, but nothing special.
• Made my way back to the hotel, planning to stop at the Bing place, but I couldn't find it! I circled back twice but I'm not sure where it is anymore. Guess it was a unicorn building.
• Finished the rest of the bullets and decided that I'll work on my recommendation letter for Dr. Julien (it's due by March 1). Suzy is coming for me tomorrow at 9:30!

Li River

• Woke up at 6:30. Breakfast: fried rice, fried noodles, sausage, egg custard bun, Lanzhou noodles (but they were already made, so there was no show).
• Got to lobby at 6:40 and asked the receptionist if she knew whether or not the Li River tour guide had come yet. I think the only word she understood out of that was "guide," because she called Bing and handed me the phone.
• Bing said I didn't need to be ready until 8:20, but when I told him about the call I got the night before, he said "oh, I guess they changed it?"
• The guy who had called me showed up at 7:55 and said he was just my driver to take me to the bus (everyone else had stayed in hotels the bus was able to get to, but mine is in the older part of the city).
• This guy knew so many English phrases (like "one man's trash is another man's treasure") and he kept directing the conversation so he could fit them in (sometimes some of the things were lost in translation, but oh well.
• About 20 minutes into the drive, he slowed down on the side of the road and crept along in the shoulder. A few seconds later a bus came up behind us and he said "okay here is your guide, bye bye." This was at 8:05.
• Every row in the bus had at least 1 of the 2 seats occupied, but one of the ladies got up and sat wth her friend so I could have the row.
• The guide used the mic to say a bunch of Chinese, then in English he said that most people in our group were Chinese so he would say everything in Chinese first, but then in English for "our foreign friend." Yep, I was the only guy who couldn't understand Chinese. He said "if you don't understand Chinese, it's ok. I'll be back." Then spoke in Chinese for the next 45 minutes as we drove to the boat dock. This was a theme for the day...he had a whole lot to say and always filled his time, but almost never went back to say the English version (I later found out that it's like he didn't know how to say the English version, because he was really confused and unable to answer when I was able to get a question in).
• The boats were lined up next to each other parallel to the dock, so we walked across the front of 4 boats to reach the last one. There were assigned seats (labeled above, sortof like an airplane), and I was sat at a table alone (thinking maybe this was the English-speaking table?). I found out that there were actually 6 busload a of people getting on (each with a guide), and we just happened to be the first. All the seats easily filled up within about 20 mins (no other English-speakers) and we were off.
• They might as well have all of these boats hooked together like train cars, because we were part of a constant chain of tourist boats.
• I guess there was some kind of head-guide, who was in charge of the microphone, because she was on it throughout the cruise. She started with a safety demonstration on how to put s life jacket on (plus another 10-minutes worth of Tonle talking).
• I think the guide from my bus was the only one of them who knew at least some English. He seemed like an ok guide, walking around and telling people about what we were seeing, but wasn't able to tell me very much (and I'm pretty sure he forgot to come and tell me several of the times we passed something noteworthy. I had found a spot to stand outside of the Chinese mob and stood my ground for most of the trip). The only surefire tool I had to tell me when we were passing something 'famous' was the throng of Chinese tourists and how desperate they were to get a picture of something. The cue was usually when the head guide would come on the microphone and they would all run up to the deck like pavlov's dogs. A couple of times, my corner of the top deck became prime real estate for taking s photo, and I would have been happy to move out of peoples' way while they took their pictures, but instead of asking they always just pushed (one guy even tried to use my shoulder as a tripod. Really?)
• Since I wasn't able to understand anything anyway  I just stayed up on the top deck the whole time enjoying the views and the breeze.
• The guide came up to show my the "hello kitty" rock, the "five horses" rock (but the guide map says nine...?), and the place where the picture from the back of the 20-yuan bill was taken.
• Other than that, he was busy for the first half of the trip soliciting an "add-on" trip. This is the first guide that I've had who has, themselves, been like a street vendor. He showed me a book of pictures and said "only 130 yuan," and it's the best part of the trip. He showed me a map of where we would go and when I asked for the alternative he said he didn't know and walked away...after making his way through all the Chinese people, he came back and reported to me that since the majority wanted to do the add-on, that is where the bus was going. If I wanted out then I would need to ride in a van "with no English," and that would put be back at 8:00 rather than 6:00.
• Yeah that was counterintuitive to me too, so I asked. He said there were people staying the night in the town our ship docked at (Yangshuo), and the small van needed to drive to the end of the add-on to pick up these people and deliver them back to Yangshuo AND THEN return to Guilin. Seriously? My options were to spend 5 hours waiting in a van or pay more money to spend 3 hours looking at things and riding back more comfortably. I was annoyed, but accepted the deal (the guide lowered the price to 100 yuan and told me it would be "our little secret." Whatever, dude). I told him I didn't have any yuan, but he said I could get some at an ATM in Yangshuo.
• I emailed Cathy about this after I got back to my hotel. Seemed very sketch...
• At one point, everyone disappeared from the roof deck, and I assume they went to eat lunch. Sure enough, when I went back downstairs my lunch was there. We were each given 1 frozen dinner and no drinks.Yum...it's a good thing I brought along my own bottle of water just in case.
• I also noticed that all the guides (except the mic lady) were sleeping when I went downstairs. Rough job.
• I went back up to the top and sat on the ground against some bars. There were 2 other people doing it and it looked like a nice place to be, so I found my corner and watched as we passed the farmland (no noteworthy rock formations on this part of the river). I ended up taking a nap, from which I was awakened by a little girl running around as if she'd just been let off a leash.
• When we docked at ___, a driver picked us up from the pier and my guide had him drop me off at an ATM. I said I wanted to exchange US money, so he said I would be able to do that next door at the hotel. As I expected, the hotel wouldn't do it for non-guests, so I was back to the ATM (which was "for Bank Of China Members Only"). I told the guide I could get him his money when we got back to my hotel and he said ok (I think we were running behind and he didn't want people to keep waiting).
• In this add-on trip, he re-announced that there was a 'foreign friend' and said again that he would be speaking in both languages. During this part of the trip, I made an effort to catch eye-contact with him and look as confused as possible whenever he spoke in Chinese. He was better about the language thing when he went through his spiels this time, but as we passed things and he pointed out the window there was still only time for one language.
• Our first stop had 2 parts: seeing a water buffalo, and taking pictures on a bridge.
• The Chinese people went NUTS around the water buffalo. They gave us some leeks to feed it and they each of the tourists wanted a picture touching it, then feeding it, then making a peace symbol, now repeat with the whole family, ...
• The bridge had a bunch of rafts going under it and I noticed the operators were using long bamboo sticks to reach down and push the bottom of the river instead of rowing with a paddle/oars.
• But apparently the point of this bridge was just pictures. The guide said "Windows XP" to me several times, so I guess this is where a screensaver picture was shot.
• We got back in the bus and went about 5 mins away to a place with a sign that said it was the Yangshuo Shangri-la Theme Park.
• The guide insisted that we all use the restroom because we would "be one hour no toilet." I tried to say that I went when the others were freaking out about the buffalo, but he wasn't having it. So I went again...
• We got on a couple of boats with a guide who worked for the park (she only knew "hello" and "bye bye" in English). As the boat pulled away from the cruise guide, who stayed on land, I thought "great..."
• She was constantly talking and pointing to things, but when I would look at where she was pointing I just saw grass and reeds and bamboo. The Chinese people were photographing all of this, so maybe it meant something to them.
• Along the way, there were 3 pagodas with dancers and musicians that would start performing as the boat approached. I thought it was funny to watch all of their enthusiasm drop as soon as we had passed.
• The guide got everyone on the boat to say "Bung Nee" to the performers, and when she saw my confusion said "Bung Nee, hello."
• The obvious main attraction was that we went through a cave, but unlike the ones at Trang An there was only one, it was tall enough for this larger boat, and they didn't light the inside of the cave (which I thought was cool).
• We were returned to land at the first pagoda we had passed, which said it was a "traditional style meeting house for the Tong People." Next to it was a complex of several buildings that we had to walk through which was basically just a ton of vendors. After that was a bridge which took us back to where the boat had departed (apparently it's called the "dragon bridge" for some reason, but a cool detail is that no nails or rivets are used to hold it together).
• The guide was waiting for me on that side and I guess I was one of the last people back because he had me go straight to the bus and it was only a couple minutes before we left.
• The guide said there would be several stops, the first would be at the railway, the second at the night market, the third at the 2-pagoda lake. He told me that between the railway and the night market we would stop at my hotel so I could change money. Then we drove about an hour and he said some things in Chinese on the microphone.
• Nope. We went straight from the railway to the night market and when we got there he told me to get off and walk with him to the Bank of China ATM. I told him I wanted to exchange my USD to Yuan but he said "no, ATM is better." I had no clue where my hotel was. He took me to an ATM and sent me in telling me to bring him 100 yuan, but my credit card can't do that... I said I couldn't use it because there's no PIN, and if he would just take me to my hotel I could exchange the money. Instead he wanted the USD directly, so I told him I would give him 15. He said that wouldn't be enough with an exchange rate of 6 yuan to 1 dollar and that might be the rate he gets when he tries to exchange it. So I told him I could get a better rate at the hotel and gave him a choice: take $15 now or go with me to the hotel and let me give you yuan. He took the $15, but wouldn't accept any bills with folded corners because "it's too old so the bank will not take it."
• I found some bills he was satisfied with and asked how to get to my hotel. He said to go through the night market and keep walking 6 minutes. Then he left.
• So I followed his directions, and when I came to a bridge a red flag went off. Fortunately I was able to get a GPS ping to show me an approximate location, and with my limited knowledge of the city's layout I made it back.
• Confirmed my wake-up call and packaged breakfast for tomorrow at reception.
• Sat down to finish the bullets I had started on the bus ride, and now that this is done it's time to pack up, go through my photos, and get to bed.

To Guilin

• Up at 5:30 to pack my last few toiletries and chargers.
• Went downstairs to find Yu in the lobby. He and the receptionist both looked really tired.
• They inspected the room and gave me a to-go breakfast which I ate in the car - ham+cucumber sandwich, 2 slices of bread, a yogurt (with a straw instead of a spoon...), an orange (clementine-sized, but definitely an orange), and a small banana.
• We drove about 10 minutes to get to Christina's apartment, and once we collected her it was another 30 to the airport.
• In both Beijing and Guilin, every person who entered the airport doors had to go through a quick pre-security. Sony didn't understand when I asked him what this was for, but Christina said they were checking for explosives. The one in Xi'an made us wait in a corral for a certain amount of time at the door (I guess to throw off any timers) before we could go in.
• There was no problem printing my boarding pass at this airport. Not sure why Beijing was being so finnicky.
•      When I checked my bag, I had to wait while they scanned it with an X-Ray. I think it makes s lot of sense to do this while the owner is standing there so they know whether or not there was a problem. The TSA can just throw some of your stuff out and replace it with a note.
• I said goodbye to Christina, and after I handed her an envelope with her tip she asked me to fill out a feedback form.
•      Checked excellent for all the driver, guide and hotel things except for 'services' because the wifi had been so shoddy.
•      Not sure if Sony had made a fib when he said all the guides in China would expect a tip, or if this pair were better actors, but both Yu and Christina looked like they were pleasantly surprised when I pulled out those envelopes.
• The security line filled up as I filled in the feedback, so I had to go to another one, and it was SLOW. But I had over an hour before my boarding time so I wasn't worried.
•      When I made it to the front, I understood why it was so slow. Every single person was getting a pat-down. In every airport I've looked for whether or not they have the body scanner or the metal detector to know whether or not I have to remove my money-belt. I didn't do it this time and they were not pleased, which made them rescan and hold the line up...
• Apparently I was as far away from my gate as possible, so it took a 15 min hike to get there but I was still there 30 mins before boarding.
•      This gate was like the one in Beijing - we loaded onto a bus that took us to the plane. Unlike Beijing, this driver was able to drive the bus without tossing everyone around.
• At first I was the only person on my row, but apparently the 2 girls sitting next to me had just been late and missed the bus. I had seen this happen with some other boarding procedures, and they were probably driven out in a van...with seats...for both of them. Maybe being late is a strategy (but without my western-society head I'm not sure I would be able to see it that way. Everyone else is always so driven to BE FIRST on the bus and FIRST on the plane and FIRST off the plane even if you have to push other people out of the way. Is this necessary? I don't get it).
• The flight was relitavely smooth. Descent was a little weird because the pilot did a stair-steppy sort of thing instead of using s gradual angle, so it's a good thing I had emptied my bladder beforehand.
• The Guilin airport is larger than the one in Siem Reap, but it's still just one building. Crowds in here weren't bad at all and I had a really easy time getting my bag and finding my guide (only one of 3 signs waiting in arrivals).
• This guide's name is Bing, and he speaks English almost as well as a native. The driver was not introduced to me, but Bing had lots of leading questions ready to go that filled the 30-minute drive in to the hotel.
•      Like Sony, he said he hasn't really travelled much outside of China. He's a native of Guilin (like the other 2).
•      One of Bing's questions was "what are you planning to do tomorrow?" I was surprised because the other 2 guides had been doing everything with me and Bing wasn't even clued in to the fact that I had already booked the cruise. This made me a little nervous so I asked if we should call to confirm and he said no. I pushed a little more and he said he would call them himself to let them know I'll be waiting in the lobby tomorrow at 8:20 for my pickup.
• When we got to the hotel and I said bye to Bing (until day after tomorrow when he gets me for the airport), there was a bit of an awkward break where it looked like he was expecting something else. Was I supposed to tip then? Am I reading too much into it? I dunno.
•      When I asked Bing what he recommends for things to do today  he said to try walking along the water to the Li River, then find a coffee shop and people-watch. My kind of fun!
• I went up to the room to connect to wifi for about half an hour, then went back down to go walk around the town.
• In contrast with the other cities I've been to, Guilin is so calm! I'm about an easy 10 minute walk away from the Main Street, along the water in a winding path. Along the way there were tons of little spots to sit just off the path and face the water. I saw lots of older people, a few young couples, several fishermen.
• When I made it to the Main Street, I crossed and kept walking until I got to the smaller part of the lake with 2 tall pagodas in it ("the sun and the moon," according to the ads I passed). I wound around the east side of this water then cut to the right to head towards the Li River. I followed along until I made it to elephant trunk hill (a park with an entrance fee just because it's popular). My goal was to see the city, so I went back to the Main Street (never did see those coffee shops...oh well). I walked up the Main Street and stopped at the central square for a bit, then continued that direction until I jigged right because I saw some activity at what is apparently an outdoor mall area. I continued north until I came to part of the original city wall, walked through, and was transported to a much slower pace with fewer cars and less noise. I came up to the gate for the Solitary Beauty Park, which I didn't buy a ticket for but stood and looked at from the outside for s few minutes. Then back east toward the river (through another of the gates) and south along the water until I came across the Library Bridge.
•      Next to the bridge was a big 3-story pagoda behind a wall. I saw people on the 2nd floor balcony so I assumed there was an entrance fee, but didn't see a gate so I walked up the steps to the fort. Passed 2 policemen at the front door on my way in the building and they didn't stop me...
• Came down after enjoying the view of the bridge for a bit (it was getting a little crowded with all the people coming up and trying to take selfies).
• Meandered through the nearby streets which had a bunch of shops and a smaller open area with a glass floor covering what I guess we're original steps to some important building.
• Eventually came to a small street with several food vendors and spent 10 of my 25 yuan on 5 skewers of meat (also, I've now learned how to read those signs that say __ yuan for __ pieces, and am 100% sure that the vendor in Xi'an had a sign that said 10 for 4 but they just gave me 1. No wonder there was so much side-eye going on between the cook and the money guy. Crooks.)
• One of the beggars came up to me while I was standing there waiting for my food to cook and tried to snatch my money. She did this after doing what all the others do where they ask, you say no, and they lean into you and grab your arm, but I hadn't had one try to take my cash before. Then again I haven't really been standing on the road with money out either.
• Walked to the west end of that street and boom, I was suddenly at the central sauare again.
• Sat down here again to eat, then went down the steps I had seen others go up/down. All over Guilin I keep seeing these run-down steps descending into tunnels like they used to have a subway and no longer do, but these were actually being used.
• Apparently under the central square is a mall! But not a glitzy one, more like the one Ron tried to take me to in Hanoi.
• Came back up on the other side of the road and headed back south on the main road. When I got to the intersection where I needed to turn, I saw the big building that said "Guilin Department Store, an international shopping destination" on it and thought I'd stop in to see if it was a big crowded mall like the other ones I've seen. It was certainly more glitzy, but it looked like it was just one story of lots and lots of glass jewelry counters (one for each brand), with some perfume companies on the outer parts.
• Left and headed back to the hotel along the road that runs parallel to the water.
• I passed a school that had a gate all around and all the kids (with matching yellow backpacks...wonder if the government buys those for every student?) were trying to get out while the parents were arriving on the outside. The teacher came and opened the gate to release them one-at a time to the parents and the streets filled with them all heading home.
• Made it back to the hotel and napped for a couple hours (it was only supposed to be 10 minutes...)
• Since then, I have been writing bullets (needed to finish yesterday's and al of today's).
• Got a call at 10pm on my hotel phone...some guy on the other end said "hi I just like to confirm for you mister William Mills you have one to join on the Li River cruise tomorrow morning." I said yes and he said "ok please meet in the lobby at 7:45. Not 8:20. Okay bye bye."
• Now getting ready for bed and making sure to set my alarm so I can be in the lobby 40 minutes earlier. Guess this means I need to be at breakfast by 7...

The Army

• Breakfast at hotel: buffet with tons of options - different kinds of noodles, rices, fruits and meats. I'm not quite sure what I had but it was good. This place also had sushi and it was very meh (FYI, I'm expecting a lot from you, Tokyo!)
• Met Christina in the lobby at 8:30. We drove about half an hour to the Banpo Cultural Museum, which is the site of some ruins from a pre-China matriarchal society. At first it sounded like it would be ehh, but it was actually pretty cool. This village was in this place SIX THOUSAND YEARS AGO, Y'ALL. 
• We saw the foundations for several houses (including fireplaces for cooking and heating), pits used for grain (everyone added their food to the storage pits, and anyone could take whatever they needed out. Communism is not new here), graves for people (with original bones. Some were clearly placed, others were literally found mutilated in the garbage hole), jars for water, jars for stillborn babies (with a hole on top so the soul can come and go), fish hooks, arrowheads, knives, NEEDLE/THREAD, A STEAMER, and some artwork from the later generations.
• There was also a 30-foot deep moat around the village. Nobody has any clue how they did that, because that would even be a big job today with heavy machinery!
• Got back to the car. Next stop was only 5-10 mins away, a workshop where they make terra cotta warriors the way they were originally done. Of course, Christina disappeared as soon as we got there and I was left with a pushy sales lady.
• It seems like this system is just part of tourism in Asia, and when I (gingerly) asked Christina later if this is what happens all the time she confirmed that it's just part of the way tours are done (then she added that she thinks it's a good system because your guide can take you to a quality place instead of what the peddlers will sell you. Not quite my point, but ok). I did end up buying something, but figured out that the saleslady was willing to negotiate on price.
• I also learned how to tell apart the different warriors by their hair - bun on the right means standard soldier, bun on the left means archer, 2 buns means general, and a rectangle (hair covered with a flap of cloth) means mid-ranking officer.
• Back to the car and on for another 30-45 mins to the Terra Cotta Warriors.
• I asked Christina how many times she comes there each week and she said "at least 3, sometimes all 7 days." Wow, this stuff is just casual to her (actually, by now it's probably boring to her, but given that she studied English in university, I don't think the warriors are why she continues to be a tour guide).
• Got there and she said there were 5 buildings we would visit: Pits 1, 2, and 3 (in order of discovery), the museum, and the restaurant.
• Went in Pit 1, which is the size of 2 soccer fields. It has the biggest collection all-together, and most of the Warriors here are standard soldiers (though some are chariot drivers, who have cloth all around their head - no buns. Best way to tell is that their arms are out in front). It was stunning to see so many of the unique statues, but what I found even more fascinating was the history of the Warriors: the first emperor of the first dynasty (Qin) had the project started when he was 13. It took 38 years to finish, but it was completed in time for his death. He had the whole thing put underground because he wanted it to be a secret, and at the time of his death he ordered that all people who had anything to do with the tombs construction (⅛ of China's population at the time) be buried alive with the army. All writings about it had to be burned too. His son, the next emporer, was also not liked, and he was not as cunning as his father, so the people managed to stage a rebellion (that's how the dynasty switched over to Tang). As part of this rebellion, people broke into the old tomb and smashed every warrior (there is only one known one that they missed) and torched everything. The tomb was purposefully forgotten and it wasn't rediscovered until the 70s when some farmers were trying to dig a well and came across a couple hands (how's that for creepy). There are about 8000 warriors, but only 2000 are uncovered because they're afraid of losing the original color on the unearthed statues.
• About a decade ago, the Germans helped use some new technology to excavate the pieces while preserving the color. That's pretty amazing since the old paint can only stand a few seconds of fresh air before withering away. Trouble is, it's not easy to do en-mass, but we did see a few soldiers towards the back that were covered with Saran Wrap and clearly had red armor, black boots, black hair, and flesh skin.
• Also at the back of Pit 1 was an area with archeologists working on piecing together soldiers like a big 3-D puzzle. They work from the torso-out in both directions until they have 2 halves to put together, so there were a bunch of leg-less men and waists with 2 feet up in the air. There was also a big harness to help with the final connection of two horse halves.
• Pit 3 was next on the list because of the park's layout. This pit is slightly deeper and has a bunch of generals facing each other (strategizing about how to best protect the emporer).
• Next was the restaurant, which was a semi-buffet. Christina showed me in, but said she would eat in the staff room. There was a salad and desert bar, and a staff to make Lanzhou noodles on-demand, but the rest was brought to me.
• The Lanzhou noodle booth was cool! I wanted to record it, but when I pulled my phone out and the guy said something and looked like he was uncomfortable being recorded. Basically he took off a chunk of dough, pressed it out, made a long roll, picked up the ends and beat it agains the table, then folded it into fourths and repeated 10-15 times. The last time he used s bunch of flour and when he picked up the ends he used his fingers to divide the long roll into 5 smaller ones (then 2 more times). Then threw the one looooooong noodle into boiling water, fished it out with a strainer, and cut some of it off to put in a bowl with beef broth and green onions.
• They brought squash & carrots, sprouts, something like orange chicken but served cold and not sweet, and something that was kinda like cashew chicken but without any nuts. I also got my choice of one drink free - Coke, Sprite, or Beer...which do you think I picked? :P
• The night before when I had my meltdown, I had been talking to dad and he said perhaps my anxiety was related to the massive population here. I certainly had considered it as a factor, but not the root issue. While I was sitting there I realized that I felt totally fine. The night before I had been lamenting not having come to Asia with someone else, but even after seeing the Warriors alone I wasn't terribly upset about that. I think what makes the difference for me is whether or not I feel safe, and around large crowds I certainly do not (similar to how I hate the Austin-Dallas drive because my body is pumped full of adrenaline for the entire 4 hours). I'm hoping this realization helps me enjoy myself a little more for the rest of my trip, and forgive myself for feeling like I've wasted a lot of time.
• As I was eating, a tea lady came over. This paraphrased conversation, spread over several interactions while I was eating, is a pretty good representation of what I have to deal with at every turn while walking down the street:
• Do you want to buy some tea, I can tell you all about them and they are only 30 yuan each.
• No thank you
• Are you sure? It is a critical part ofChinese  culture.
• No thank you
• Have you seen the traditional tea ceremony?
• Yes
• In Beijing? (Not sure why she guessed this...Beijing is known as 'the place' for the ceremony, so my guess is that if I had said anywhere else she would have said she could do it better)
• Yes
• Did they give you the lychee tea?
• Yes
• Okay (she left)
• Here is a list of our teas and an introduction about each. Let me know if you want to try any free of charge. (She left)
• Here I have brought you some flower tea. We like to drink this before bedtime because it is good for the sleep. Have you decided what you would like to try from the list?
• No thank you (tried to hand the paper back)
• What kinds of teas did you try in Beijing?
• One of each type (there are 6 tea classifications)
• Did you try oolong tea?
• Yes (oolong is one of the 6...)
• With ginsig?
• Yes
• Okay (she left)
• Here I have brought you some oolong tea without ginsig. It is good for your health and tastes less intense (she left)
• (Fortunately, Christina came back at this time and I asked her to sit with me because I could see the lady coming back)
• Here I have brought a package of the oolong tea you tried. It is 30 yuan for a half package or 50 for a whole one.
• No thank you (got up and started putting my jacket on)
• But I have so many more teas! Sir, you can come and I will show you the tea ceremony special for you!
• (Christina said about 2 syllables here, and the lady immediately about-faced and left. Like magic).
• Walked over to Pit 2, which showed the structures built to house the Warriors. The wooden beams were of course long-gone, but the original mat roof was (mostly) intact and sloped between the stone supports throughout the troops.
• This pit also had a glass-enclosed statue for each kind of rank. The thinner, the weaker, and other than that it was all in the hairstyle (and a few details in the armor, but the hair was the easiest way to distinguish them)
• Next was the museum, which we only spent about 5 minutes in to see one exhibit.
• There were ½ scale royal chariots (one original which took 2 years to piece together, one imitation made to show the detail) that had been buried near the entrance to the actual tomb (the Warriors are about 1km away from the grave). These sculptures were not made at full-size because bronze was very expensive, and the bronze reigns are original.
• Drove about an hour back to the hotel.
• Christina pointed to a big hill on the horizon as we left and said "that's the earth mound for the emperor." Wow, this guy made his people build something tall enough to be seen on the horizon! That's intense.
• We got back at like 2:00, wow. I had thought I would have less daytime to work with by the time we returned. I took about an hour nap and around 3:30 headed out
• I walked to the subway and took it to the southern part of Xi'an. My plan was to see the wild goose pagoda, south gate (biggest one), maybe Tang Paradise (a theme park meant to reflect what life was like then), and maybe the provential history museum (free for tourists and meant to show China's history).
• This subway system is awesome! The trains and stations are well-maintained, but slow to build because every time they start to dig a tunnel some new archaeological thing is discovered.
• Security to get in was a little intense. They made each person run their bags through an X-Ray, bodies through a scanner, and liquids through some special scanning device I haven't seen before.
• So many people use it that there are police at each stop with long sticks to shove bodies in so the doors can close. I'm expecting that for Tokyo but didn't realize it happened in Xi'an too.
• Made it out of the subway and used the sun to make sure I was heading east. I passed the provential museum which was just closed (4:30), so I continued on and apparently turned too early while trying to find the pagoda. Good news about looking for fall things is you can see them when you're close enough, so I eventually found my way there.
• I walked around from the west side to the south side, which had a big open plaza in front of it here were many people around but not so many we were rubbing soldiers, and the police were doing a good job at pushing the street vendors away from the public space.
• I checked my map again to find that the water I had expected to find was actually on the north side, so I walked around there. As I arrived, I saw huge crowds of people lining the water and hovered back to see what was up.
• There was an audiovisual water show that started a few seconds later and lasted about 20 minutes. The Chinese tourists really only cared about getting pictures, so after standing nearby for about 10 mins I was able to get a pretty good place to stand.
• After the show, ~6, the sun was beginning to set. The Tang Paradise was surely closed or closing, so I set out for the South Gate.
• By the time I had made it ¼ of the way to the south gate (at the subway station I had originally gotten off at), my feet were starting to talk to me so instead I decided to people-watch at the mall next to the intersection.
• Before I did, I went down into the subway just to make sure the machines had an English button! On the way from the hotel I bought my ticket at the information booth, and I wasn't sure if it would be staffed by the time I was done in the mall.
• In the mall, I first went up to the top floor and looked down on the escalators. There was one that went between each floor and one that went from floor 1 directly to the top (7, I think). I noticed while u was sitting there that some people were going up some escalators above the top floor (looked like they went out above the big glass some ceiling). I was intrigued so I followed and found out it was a parking lot. Still, it was kinda cool to look down through the ceiling at all the people inside.
• Went down through the mall sometimes stopping on a floor to find a bench. In the second atrium area, there was a high-adventure-like course built for small kids at the top, and several stories down a coffee shop that looked like it was floating in the middle.
• I saw a grocery store and strolled in. I bought 2 of the snacks I came across - jackfruit chips (Ron had tried to find some jackfruit for me to taste, but it was out of season. I thought it tasted a little like banana chips with a citrusy twist), and a red-bean bun (something I know I like in America but hadn't tried in Asia. It was as good here!). When I tried to pay with card (to save my yuan), the cashier kept holding the card next to a machine rather than swiping it or inserting the chip. She did this 2-3 times then handed the card back to me and shook her head. I tried pointing to the chip and doing a swipe motion, but she was determined to not accept it. There went my last 50-bill. In my change she gave me these three coins that looked like the 1 yuan coins I had earlier, but smaller.
• Left the mall and went to the subway. I tried to use the kiosk to pay the 3 yuan fare with the coins I had gotten at the grocery store, but it wouldn't take them...an attendant came up and held my Coon in front of me like that was going to help me understand the problem. Next to the coin slot was a circle with "1 yuan" in the middle, and the circle's size matched my coin. The attendant shrugged when I pointed it out, but fortunately the information booth still had someone in it so I went there instead.
• When I tried to pay with my 3 coins here, the staff person also would not take them. The lady behind me spoke English, and when she say my confusion said "the coins should be bigger. These are not yuans." There are non-yuan denominations?! How had that never come up before? I don't remember what these are called, but I've got 3 of them and as far as I can tell they're worthless...I haven't seen any prices that aren't whole yuans (I guess there was some sort of tax that added on to the bill at the grocery store?). I circled back around to buy my ticket with bills and then it was fine.
• Made it back to the hotel with plans to write bullets and pack. Apparently I only got through a few bullets before passing out, but fortunately my body woke up at 3am so I did have time to pack and brush my teeth before my last hour and a half of sleep.

To Xi'an

• Woke up at 4:45, got to breakfast at 5:15. Same options as day 1, and the eating area was deserted.
• Sony came at 6 , and we made it to the airport by 6:45. He helped me get my ticket and walked me to security.
• Apparently there's some issue with many travel agents not booking their clients' plane tickets with their passports (name only). Fortunately, I had my confirmation, which was proof-enough to let them see that I was the 'William Mills' on that plane. Hope I'm able to dodge that bullet as easily if it comes up in the future.
• Made it through security and to my gate by 7:15
• Wow, airline security is TIGHT. They took my liquids out of my liquids pouch and smelled them, and made me separate out all of my cables/wires and my camera.
• The gate changed about 2 mins before boarding with no announcement, but since the other one was just across from the hall it wasn't a huge deal. I figured it out as I walked up to see why there wasn't a line, but we were delayed because several others weren't paying attention. The bus was also late (a bus had to take us out to the plane, and I think this driver must have been evaluating his success by the number of people he made fall down. Gas, brake, gas brake.
• The flight itself wasn't too bad. It lasted about an hour
• Plus an hour spent waiting on the tarmac because they held the plane 15 minutes for one guy and we missed out window.
• There were a few periods of mild turbulence, but the scariest part about them was the wait staff coming on the system to say we all should "not panic."
• They served a meal even though it was a domestic flight! Rice porridge + bread + yogurt and water.
• As we landed, I looked out the window and was surprised that if looked almost as bad as Beijing outside! Oy vey.
• At the airport in Xi'an, I almost had no problems! Took me awhile to find the restroom, which was an emergency for me at the time, but that's it.
• My guide for the city, Christina, picked me up (with a driver named Yu). We talked about the history of Xi'an and the dynasties as we drove ~45 mins to the hotel. She also told me that I was originally in a group but got a 'free upgrade' to a private tour, so I could pick any start-time I wanted...I just asked her to stick with the original time of 8:30. We got to the hotel around noon.
• My room is on the "executive floor," number 21 out of 25. It has 2 bathrooms and a separate living room from the bedroom, overlooking a big traffic circle.
• The elevator is SO SLOW. It takes almost a full 2 mins to go from 1 to 21 uninterrupted.
• After a quick nap and a little bit of Internet-time (the wifi in this hotel isn't all that great so there's a bunch of waiting jnvolved...), I got a map from the receptionist and was off to see the bell-tower and drum tower in the very center of Xi'an.
• I had to walk along the city wall for a bit to make it to the west gate (you can only enter the old city through one of the 4 Cardinal-directional gates, because the wall has been preserved since it was originally built in the Ming Dynasty.
• Along the way, there was a park all along the wall, so I came back through the park.
• Made it to the towers and took some pictures, then walked up and down Muslim Street to buy a lamb kebab and some orange juice (a suggestion made by a staff member at the nearby tourist information. It tasted sweeter and tangier than what I'm used to - it was good!). After eating the kebab I had a wooden spear that I carried just because I liked it, which probably got me some looks, but everyone here stares at me anyway because I'm white.
• I saw a couple things I'm not used to seeing - not only were there hanging carcasses next to the kebab places, but they also had feet (I'm guessing they're mostly lamb, though one that I saw definitely looked more like dog). Also, despite the nearby public restrooms, there was a guy squatting over a grate without pants and casually pooping. Guess that helps explain the yellow puddles on the road and the smell of the city (it's pretty gross when you hit a pocket of sewage stench as you're walking along. At least I had my pollution mask on?).
• Strolled back, going up and down a street along the way that looked like it had some souvenir shops. There was a Buddhist temple at the end, so I walked to it and back to the main road.
• Walked through the park instead of on the sidewalk. It's a pretty well maintained public area with a bunch of kids around with batmitton rackets and birdies while their parents sat down to chat. There are also several sculptures and structures along the way to stop and sit near.
• The whole park is built along both sides of the old, original moat (which still has water in it - some guys were even fishing in it...ew). The moat is on the outside of the wall and all the way around
• As I got close to my hotel, some guy came up behind me and started making rooster noises and following me. I saw a policeman near the entrance and made sure to walk by him, so he stripped the guy off of my trail for me. 
• Made it back to the hotel just after dusk to write bullets, have some internet time, and get ready for bed. Christina's coming to get me at 8:30.
• Had a bit of an anxiety meltdown tonight. For a lot if this trip I have felt really isolated and paralyzed by fear of something happening to my camera or my phone or my cash or to me. I have spent many nights in my hotel room because it's the only place where I feel safe. I've skipped many meals because I'm afraid it will take too much of my limited cash (either because I don't know what something is worth, because I will manage to choose one of the vendors that hikes the price up just because I'm a tourist, or because I will get something that tastes awful - which has happened twice and made me feel pretty guilty afterwards). I feel very much like a target everywhere I go, because I look different and can't communicate with anyone around me. Who is staring because they haven't seen a white person before and who is staring to figure out what they can take? I honestly don't have much spending money (I transferred like $60 to use in all of China without knowing of that was reasonable, but have stuck to it because I'm stubborn and unwilling to transfer somewhere that isn't the airport...and only if I HAVE to, because each time I do chips away what's left), but vendors and guides and thiefs all want a piece of the pie and it's exhausting and frustrating to walk down the street saying no no no or ignoring everyone. I want to tell everyone to leave me the fuck alone, but know that I SHOULD be trying SOME of these things, so I just keep walking and never commit to anything or take an adventure that puts me in an environment that could be risky because I am completely alone here. I'm strong-willed enough to not let a taxi driver take me somewhere and to keep a store-owner from selling me something I have 0 interest in, but then I just walk through the streets and come back to the safe spot still hungry, without a souvenir, and too fed-up to risk leaving again to experience the city. It's also very isolating to see the incredible things I've seen on my tours, and not have anyone to share it with (on group tours, there are the 1-day relationships you make with the other tourists, but I guess that's still better than the private tours where you're with someone who sees these things 2-3 times a week). Most nights I just go to sleep and decide I can wait until my included hotel breakfast in the morning...tonight is one of those nights.