Here’s a candid shot of me stocking up on drinks. I also picked up some buckwheat tea that I liked. Beef Noodles Craving some beef noodles, we stopped into a chain devoted to it. Expensive by Chinese standards, the food was good, but still not as great as the beef noodles I had inRead more
Japanese Food in China We head to a Japanese chain restaurant. This is beef ramen. Beef teriyaki kabobs. I have had teriyaki meats many times in the USA… this one really rocked my world. Authentic teriyaki is less sweet, more salty, potent. It coated the beef and transformed its flavor into a whole new experienceRead more
The next morning we check out the map of the national park and realize so far we have seen roughly 25% of the must-see sights along the forked valley. We decide to grab a bus and skip past the area we saw yesterday. I’m starting to feel better. I don’t know the nameRead more
Joni and I are companions on the “10” hour bus ride to Jiuzhaigou Valley in the Tibetan Plateau, just 424km north of Chengdu. The bus is far from comfortable. No AC, no heat. Windows don’t really open. No restroom. Barely any brakes. The driver is intent on never stopping… but since the bus would breakRead more
I switched over to a new hotel with a Tibetan theme. Well decorated but not really close to anything. A place for prayer in the hallway. The view from the room 13th floors exist in China. Joni is happy we stopped for Japanese food. Just as I am feeling comfortable eating like a Chinese,Read more
Jing snagged VIP tickets for the Chengdu Panda Rescue Base and Joni and I headed there early. Lucky for us, the place was not at all busy, and the shooting conditions were fantastic. Butterfly looks like a leaf. We head to the nursery building first to see the newborns. We then stopRead more
Joni arrives Half Japanese, half Chinese Joni is an interesting character. On one hand she is independent and tough (maybe a little mean), and on the other she embraces the Japanese Kawaii style, often dressing as if she were attending a tea party in the garden. In the evening we all go to Yummy TangoRead more