the moment you've all been waiting for

yes, it has finally happened, we made it to the KTV. I know you are probably thinking that we are uber-posers for naming our blog after the Asian world's favorite tacky past time before we actually experienced it ourselves, and you are right. well, partly. I actually have done my share of KTV during trips to China last year, but as of 2 weeks ago, Ben was still a KTV Virgin. I pretty much had to twist his arm to get him to come too! we met up with a gang of Chinese and one Aussie guy named James and headed off to discover KTV paradise. after loading up on (warm) beer and snacks (like dried squid), we entered our own little room with a mock stage in front, big screens playing music "videos" and supplying the words to the songs, and of course, disco lights. then we proceeded to sing (mostly very badly, but there were a few there who obviously make a point to practice their KTV numbers) and perform for each other, while taking shots of beer and dancing like hooligans. that pretty much sums up the KTV experience in a nutshell.

The Chinese folks we went with like western music, but it is obvious that western music is somewhat of a new thing. for example, they all knew every word to Maroon 5 and Backstreet Boys songs, but didn't know the classic 80s Madonna songs. it is so different to hang out with people who didn't experience the same popular culture growing up as we did. what was china like in the 80s, I wonder? what is the Chinese equivalent to Cyndi Lauper? I guess we need to keep up our research by KTVing regularly. yep, we're hooked!

Paperwork No More

We've finally got all of the seemingly millions of forms completed to stay in China for the next year. It was a long process and involved many trips to the police station, the hospital, and to the university....but it is now over!!! Yeah hoo!!!

Getting Hot....In the Hot Tub....Good God!

Kelly and I adventured to An Ning hot springs this past weekend to celebrate 5 blissful years of holy matrimony. It was an amazing trip!

The town of An Ning is located roughly 30 miles due west of Kunming. The actual hot springs are located another 8 miles west of the town...making our total trip about 40 miles. I bring this simple fact up because I was astonished by the difference that only 40 miles made in terms of both scenery and overall vibe. Kunming = busy city feel.....An Ning and the surrounding hot spring area = sleepy ghost town! This was what Kelly and I were hoping for.....

So Kelly and I set off after my Chinese lesson on Friday afternoon. We found the correct bus station after walking about 20 minutes from our front door. Kelly did a wonderful job of getting us two tickets on the correct bus. For a little while after she had gotten the tickets, she was a bit anxious that she had indeed gotten it all correct. My "spidey" senses were telling me that she had nailed it...and I was thinking more about the "when the hell to get off" aspect. We both just giggled and figured, "at least we're on this ride together".

After going nearly deaf from about 1 hour of excessive honking from the bus driver, and watching the cityscape give way to farmland amongst rolling hills, we arrived in the parking lot of a hotel. We both hoped that it was the hot springs area outside of An Ning. We felt pretty good about it all, as we had heard someone say "An Ning" during the ride.

We exited the bus and took off west alongside the road. Quickly, we came across a series of caves with all sorts of Chinese characters written all over them. Although I had no actual idea of what was written, I figured that it was probably something to the effect of, "If you've come hear to celebrate your 5th wedding anniversary...you've chosen well young grasshoppers. Party on...and enjoy your soak!". Kelly took a more practical approach to determine our next move by finding a huge map with arrows pointing to all of the hot springs. Hey...we've always had different styles :)

We eventually got our bearings, and set off to look for a place to stay. We crossed the river that ran alongside town and headed in the general direction of the hot springs area. We walked for about an hour and saw very few hotels. We did however get a great look at the "baller" hot springs that we planned to splurge on the following day. The few hotels that we did come across fell into two categories: rundown and out of business, or high end and way too expensive. It was a very weird dynamic. There would be 4 hotels that were out of business(think Bates Motel on steroids) and then this place that was uber-elite, had over 200 rooms, and was charging $200(US) per night. All we were thinking was "WTF is going on here??? My business mind was racing with all of this food for thought. I couldn't figure how these big places could stay afloat. I should restate that this place had the feel of an east coast gold town on August 20th, 1848... there was no one around.

Kelly and I assessed the situation and elected to head back across the river to look at a few spots that we could now see from our new vantage point. The first place we came to looked great and met our budget....but surprisingly was full. We found our spot at the next place we visited. It was a lovely spot with nice rooms and some cool areas to hang out. It also had some very elaborate private soaking rooms to rent.

After settling we walked around and found a place to grab some dinner. During dinner all we could talk about was soaking our bones in some hot mineral enriched water. We ate fast. We quickly headed back towards our hotel, grabbed some essentials, and headed to a funky little place around the corner. It was a "wen quan" which is loosely translates to hot springs spa. After looking at several of the different options that were available, we plunked down 56RMB (~$8) and were led the the room pictured below. The attended then cranked a few knobs outside of the room and boom!!!....the tub started filling up with boiling hot water. I am not kidding...this water was H - O - T!!!! For the next hour we just sat around in boiling hot water talking about married life and what a great 5 years it's been...pure bliss.


The next day Kelly and I had a lazy morning before setting off to grab some lunch en route to the really nice hot springs resort that we had found out about. There were only a few restaurant options to choose from in town. We settled on a spot that operated in a traditional manner....no menus...just a large window that showcased the food that they had on hand. Here's a pic of the "menu" and the meal that we had cooked....it was very, very good.


After lunch, we quickly headed to the resort. We again reviewed the available packages and selected the all access package without the massage. We figured 4-6 hours of soaking would be relaxing enough and so the massage was just overkill. The resort lived up to our expectations. The surrounding area and the design of the place did a wonderful job of producing a relaxing atmosphere. There were two main sections that we took advantage of: a section of 25 hot spring soaking pools in the woods, and a cold swimming pool. Our plan was to find a secluded hot tub and starting eating all of the snacks that we had brought along. We brought so many snacks!!! The place was relatively empty upon our arrival, which lended itself nicely to our plans of seclusion.


As time went on, Kelly and I switched over to the cold pool to reset our internal temperatures. By now, there were more people arriving and we were getting many looks from the Chinese. After a cool dip, we went back to find a hot pool to soak our bones. With more people at the resort it was a bit tougher to find pure seclusion. Luckily, the Chinese people really took a liking to the "specialty" pools that the resort offered. When I say "specialty" pools I am referring to the "sour candy apple" flavored pool, and the orange dyed pool, and the rose infused pool. These seemed like the most popular, although it confused Kelly and I as the water in these pools was stagnate due to the added "extras". We stuck to the pools that had a continuous exchange of old and new spring water. That being said, I couldn't resist getting a photo of the rose infused pool with Kelly in front.


So we pretty much repeated the hot/cold routine for the next several hours until we didn't think that our bones could take in any more mineral spring water. We were so relaxed when we left that we had a hard time walking back to our hotel. It was a perfect ending to a wonderful celebration.

Yuan Tong monk parade

I've heard quite a few oohs and ahhs about the Monk Music. great, isn't it? here are a few more photos of Yuan Tong temple to complete the mental image.

last week we visited while a Buddhist service was in progress. worshipers buy candles and incense to burn in large urns full of melted red wax. see,even the girl dressed like one of Justin Timberlake's backup dancers is burning candles. incense is heavy in the air, as is the chanting of the monks. Ben and I sat in front of the temple and listened to the the music. at the end of the service, the entire congregation left the temple, led by monks in saffron robes, and paraded around the temple grounds. the rest of the congregation (wearing black robes) followed the monks, chanting the whole time, and one monk beat a drum to keep everyone in time. we turned our cameras off while the service was in progress and during the monk parade, so no photos, but I am sure you can imagine the surreal experience of literally being surrounded by the chanting and incense. apparently Buddhists have been worshiping in this way, in this very spot for over 900 years.







turns out that this week is special in the old Chinese calendar. people have been out in the streets all week burning "money" (actually it is paper effigies of money) so that their ancestors will be rich in the afterlife. apparently, doing so is against the law, and punishable by up to 15 days in jail, but the old school Chinese do it anyway. I guess it is a matter of priority; 15 days in jail isn't so bad as compared to your deceased relatives living in poverty in the great Beyond. who says Chinese are not religious?