30 Tuesday Apr 2013
Posted in Asia, China, Food & Drinks, Shanghai
Although Mr. Selfish and I enjoyed the Shanghainese food in Shanghai, we had a hankering for some good ol’ American fare. Fortunately for us, within walking distance of our apartment in the French Concession, there was a hot dog place and a brewery.
The hot dog place is named Bikini (47号 Yongfu Road). We walked there late one night after we had a minor cooking fiasco with short-grain rice in our apartment. The hot dogs were gourmet and quite delicious.
29 Monday Apr 2013
Tags
Asia, Beisi Pagoda, China, Day Trip, Humble Administrator's Garden, North Temple Pagoda, Selfish Years, Shanghai, Suzhou
Mr. Selfish and I decided to take a couple of day trips from Shanghai. While on my study abroad program in 2002, we took a day trip to Suzhou, which I remembered to be stunningly beautiful, so we decided to venture there again.
The train ride from Shanghai to Suzhou took less than half an hour. We walked from the train station to the North Temple Pagoda, also known as the Beisi Pagoda. Admission was 25 yuan per person and completely worth it.
28 Sunday Apr 2013
Mr. Selfish and I enjoyed people watching in the People’s Park in Chengdu so much that we decided to visit two of the parks in Shanghai.
First, we went to Fu Xing Park, which was within walking distance of our French Concession apartment. The park is designed in the French style, with a center lake, fountains, covered pavilions, and flowerbeds. We watched the children learning how to rollerblade and the old ladies practicing their ballroom dancing.
27 Saturday Apr 2013
Posted in Asia, China, Food & Drinks, Shanghai
Tags
Asia, China, Food & Drinks, Fu 1039, Jingang Food and Drink Shop, scallion pancake, Selfish Years, Shanghai, Shanghainese Food
While in Shanghai, Mr. Selfish and I enjoyed the Shanghainese cuisine, which is also known as Hu cuisine. In particular, we loved all of the soup dumplings in Shanghai, which I’ll go over in another post.
Aside from the soup dumplings, my favorite meal was at Fu 1039 restaurant (1039号 Yuyuan Road), which specializes in Shanghainese food. The restaurant is located in a refurbished old villa and is a part of a fancy chain of restaurants starting with the name “Fu.” We tasted two quintessential dishes there – stewed pork in sweet soy sauce and hairy crab with greens.
26 Friday Apr 2013
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During the summer of 2002, I did a law study abroad program focusing on Chinese law in Shanghai at the East China University of Politics and Law. I have very fond memories of tasting soup dumplings, watching tai chi in the park, bargaining at the market for souvenirs, and walking on the Bund.
This time around, Mr. Selfish and I spent two weeks in Shanghai. Admittedly, that is a long time to stay in Shanghai. But I was nostalgic when planning this leg of the trip, and I don’t regret it.
Here are some photos of the Bund and Nanjing Road at night to kick off our series of Shanghai posts:
25 Thursday Apr 2013
Tags
Asia, Day Trips, Fukuoka, Japan, Kanazawa, Kobe, Kurokawa, Kyoto, Mount Koya, Nara, Osaka, Selfish Years, Tokyo
Mr. Selfish and I arrived in Kyoto last night and are staying in an apartment here for a glorious 22 nights. After so much fast traveling through China and Korea, we were glad to unpack our bags, do some laundry, and buy some groceries to make home cooked meals.
We started our trip in Japan at Fukuoka for one night and then went to Kurokawa, which is an amazing onsen town, for two nights. After Kyoto, we’ll visit Kanazawa for a couple of nights and then Tokyo for two weeks.
24 Wednesday Apr 2013
Posted in Asia, China, Food & Drinks
Mr. Selfish and I were surprised to find that Xi’an has a large Muslim population. We decided to wander around the Hui Muslim Quarter, which is primarily off of Huimin Street, and sample different types of Chinese Muslim food. The quarter is quite near the drum and bell towers, which are very scenic at night.
23 Tuesday Apr 2013
Mr. Selfish and I traveled to Xi’an, China primarily to see the Terracotta Warriors Museum. In doing my research, I learned that there was a lesser known tomb in Xi’an for Emperor Jingdi, which is also known as Hanyangling. We decided to visit this tomb first and save the Terracotta Soldiers for later.
In hindsight, I found the Tomb of Emperor Jingdi to be a more well-done attraction than the Terracotta Warriors Museum. The Chinese government recently renovated the Tomb of Emperor Jingdi, and as a result, the Tomb is better designed and allows you closer access to the excavation pieces. Most of the pits had a glass walkway over which you can walk to see the thousands of excavated pieces.
22 Monday Apr 2013
Tags
Asia, China, Selfish Years, Terracotta Warriors Museum, The Museum of Qin Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses, Xi'an
Mr. Selfish and I couldn’t go to China for more than a month and not visit the Terracotta Warriors Museum (officially the Museum of Qin Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses) in Xi’an. Unfortunately, we were a little underwhelmed by the experience.
The first building we entered had two large painted bronze chariots. They seemed pretty well-preserved but were swarmed by Chinese tourists. Even though the chariots were behind glass, the throngs of supposed photographers kept utilizing their flash to take photos, which completely defeats the purpose of the photo.
21 Sunday Apr 2013
Posted in Asia, China, Food & Drinks
Tags
Asia, Chengdu, China, Food & Drinks, Mike's Pizza Kitchen, Peter's Tex Mex Grill, Selfish Years, Tex Mex
Mr. Selfish and I enjoyed the Sichuan cuisine in Chengdu but after a while, we started craving Western food. When I discovered that there was supposedly good Tex Mex and pizza in Chengdu, we couldn’t resist.
First, we went to Peter’s Tex-Mex Grill, which is a mini chain in China. Apparently, the first restaurant was opened in Chengdu by a Chengdu native. Mr. Selfish has been craving authentic nachos since we left the States. We’ve ordered it twice while in Thailand and both experiences left much to be desired.
20 Saturday Apr 2013
I adore the film “Farewell My Concubine,” which is about two Chinese opera actors prior to the victory of the Communists in 1949. Mr. Selfish didn’t watch the entire movie because he couldn’t stand the Chinese opera singing. Although I initially didn’t like it, the singing grew on me as the film progressed, and it was 171 minutes long.
When I learned that there was a highly recommended Chinese opera performance in Chengdu, I wanted to go. The Shu Feng Ya Yun Sichuan Opera in Chengdu is highly recommended. The performance starts at 8pm every night. If you arrive early, you can watch the actors and actresses putting on their makeup and costumes. Mr. Selfish and I were the only ones watching them during this process but they didn’t seem to mind.
19 Friday Apr 2013
Posted in Travel Hacking
If you’re just joining us, Mrs. Selfish and I have been traveling the world for the last 8 months – largely on miles and points – or are we? While Mrs. Selfish touched on our favorite memories yesterday, today I thought I’d take a look and see what our trip has meant from a cost perspective.
Within our Selfish Year of travel (or 369 days) we’re visiting a total of 91 cities – 78 we’re staying in, while 13 are day trips. Here’s what that looks like:
Of those 91 cities, so far we’ve visited a total of 66. So we still have a lot of fast traveling ahead:
So far we’ve visited 21 of the 25 countries we set out to see. I was a little surprised by that number myself, considering we’re only 66% of the way in. Then I looked at the country breakdown:
It turns out our upcoming stays in Japan and Australia account for 21.6% of the amount of time we’re spending abroad – probably two of the more expensive countries on this trip – whoops!
We spent the least amount of time in Monaco (1 day), followed by Switzerland, and Austria. Interestingly, we’ll have spent 3 nights in the air – 2 nights on our way to Singapore (a red-eye + the time change), and 1 night on our upcoming leg from Japan to Australia.
18 Thursday Apr 2013
Posted in News
Tags
Today is our four year wedding anniversary. Although the past four years have been phenomenal, I cannot believe how fortunate Mr. Selfish and I have been during this past selfish year. We started our trip in August and have already been to 66 cities and 20 countries. Craziness!
Check out our favorite memories from the last eight months, after the break.
17 Wednesday Apr 2013
Posted in Asia, China, Food & Drinks
Tags
Asia, Chengdu, China, ChuanBei Famous Snacks, Hot Pot, Numbness, Selfish Years, Shujiuxiang Hot Pot Restaurant, Sichuan, Sichuan Food, Sichuan Peppercorns, Wonton
Mr. Selfish and I held a belief that we could handle spicy food. Yes, I deliberately used the past tense in that last sentence. After experiencing the Sichuan (aka Szechuan) food, I seriously doubt our ability to handle spicy food.
Sichuan food originates from the southwest of China. It is known for its bold and spicy flavor due to the liberal use of garlic, chili peppers, and the Sichuan peppercorn. This peppercorn is unlike any other peppercorn I’ve ever encountered. In fact, it is not traditionally spicy but actually causes a numbness in your mouth that sets the stage for the other hot spices used.
We decided to try Sichuan hot pot at Shujiuxiang Hot Pot Restaurant. There was a long line out front so we figured it would be good. The queue was based on a number system. Luckily, the staff figured out that we didn’t speak Chinese and tracked us down when our number was up. At that point, we didn’t know how we were going to order since nothing was in English. The staff found a huge menu with lots of photos, and we just pointed to what we wanted. We chose the spicy red hot pot and then randomly pointed at meats and veggies to cook in it.
The hot pot is made of metal with a metal separator. Chili oil, chili peppers, and Sichuan peppercorns are heated until they come to a slow boil.
16 Tuesday Apr 2013
Tags
Asia, Chengdu, China, Green Ram Temple, People's Park, Qingyang Palace, Selfish Years, Wenshu Temple
In planning our trip to China, Mr. Selfish and I chose to spend a few days in Chengdu primarily to visit the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. We also found the city of Chengdu itself to be quite charming.
First, we visited Wenshu Temple, which is dedicated to the Buddhist representation of wisdom, the Manjusri Bodhisatva. The temple contains more than 450 Buddha statues and other relics. Mr. Selfish and I just walked around and enjoyed the scenery.
The Selfish Years 