Ambercrombie and Titch

[lizzybennet]

Engrish T-shirts just crack me up. I think the coolest one I've ever seen was on a little girl at the playground. It read "Queen Killer Junk Rocker". Isn't that awesome? And of course, there are the ones that are mildly appalling such as the seemingly popular "Surfers have wet dreams" and "bedtime is f-time." I have to believe that the people wearing them have no idea what they say, or at least what they mean. By far, the funniest example of english-cluelessness that I've seen was a woman wearing a Tampax jacket. Given the fact that tampons are very difficult to find here and most Chinese women have no clue what they are, I'm supposing that woman would be mortified if she knew what Tampax really were.

On Saturday we went to Purple Mountain to visit the Ming emperor's tomb and Sun Yat-sen's tomb. Wow, that was soooooooo many stairs to climb. I thought it was so that when we finally reached the top, we'd be cursing Sun Yat-sen's name, but Chris assured me it was more to discourage grave robbers. Oh. I suppose that makes more sense. We took oodles of pictures, but I shall post a few at a time so as to spare you sightseeing-picture-overload.



The pathway to the Ming emperor's tomb is lined with these giant statues. Some are military officials and some are scholars.


After we finished walking the statue lined path, we arrived at these lovely bridges. See that red building in the background? I assumed that would be the tomb. No. There were two more series of steps and buildings behind it. Chris says each gateway represents another level of sacredness, the deeper sancitity of the complex. The further you progress into the structure, the more holy it becomes.


The steep steps we had to climb to get up to the Ming emperor's tomb. This tunnel seems both creepy and ancient. There were mini stalactites on the roof. See that sandwich in Zack's hand? He couldn't concentrate on eating at the picnic area because there were too many bee-types things buzzing around. He decided to eat on the run instead. Once we arrived at the tomb it was very anti-climatic because there is no tomb actually there. It's just an empty building.


Here is Petey walking up the stairs at the Sun Yat-sen tomb. These stairs just seemed to go on and on...


Connor did pretty well on most of the steps, but he was getting tired towards the end. He asked me to carry him. Super mom that I am, I did...up one flight :)


I love this lion. He seems so happy! But you can see how exhausted our kids were after climbing the monstrous steps of two different tombs. It was time to head home.

Has anyone watched "Heroes"? We downloaded it because we were so frustrated waiting for Lost to post. We both agree that we liked it much better than Lost. It was refreshingly different...you know, the way Lost used to be.

Zack got dinged by a bicyclist today. We were standing at the crosswalk, waiting for the light to turn. We were not out in the road, but just on the edge, by the curb. Out of nowhere, a guy on a bike comes wobbling right into us. He swerved away, but not before he scratched Zack on the arm. Thankfully it didn't draw blood, just left a surface scratch. It's very frustrating, because it sometimes seems like people on bikes are so busy gawking at us that they forget to steer. As a matter of fact, they start to steer towards us as they stare. This guy just kept right on going, and I was too surprised to fuss at him (plus I was worried about Zack.)

Comments

[beepboop.livejournal.com]

hahaha...i think it says "abercrobiF & titch" lol

it's like they use a random phrase generator for slogans or something...heheheh

[mysteena.livejournal.com]

You're right! It does say abercrobif. lol, that makes it even better!

[risingpheenix.livejournal.com]

Those pictures are beautiful. The whole area looks like it's floating above the treeline, what is below? I would be surprised to know that there was something down there.

Think of all the calories you burned - you look fantastic by the way in that pic of you with Connor climbing the stairs. And it's not just because you'redown the steps aways.

Engrish...That Yokota Officer's Club book I was telling you about mentions the pirated record albums that her brothers buy. One of the songs is "Brown Eyed Girl" and she writes how it is translated. It's hilarious! I had to read that section out loud for Mike. We were both giggling by the time I finished it.

[mysteena.livejournal.com]

These tombs sit high up on Purple Mountain. When you finally climb to the top of them, you can turn around and look back down on the whole city skyline. It's not as breath-taking a sight as one might think, because the pollution pretty much obscures the city. It's barely visible through the haze.

I can't wait to read that book!

[sunrise0124.livejournal.com]

Wow. That sounds like a fun trip (except it is soo loong).

I've seen an episode or two of it. My husband and i tend to liked it too although usually when it is on I'm giving the kids a bath so miss some of it.

Glad you're doing well.

[mysteena.livejournal.com]

Did you see the first episode? We missed that one and it's not available to download on iTunes. If you have time, will you give me a quick recap of the first episode? Thanks!

[sunrise0124.livejournal.com]

I didn't see much but my husband saw it(i was giving kids a bath when it was on). I'm getting him to write the recap for you. I'll either send you a link(if he posts it in his journal) or I'll put it in mine for you.