May 25, 2009

We left the hotel at 6:45 am this morning! We boarded the ferry for the 3 hour ride to He Shan, China to visit Franke and Victory. We had no idea what we were in for.

The ferry was similar to a plane on water...the seats were the same and it even had TVs; however, it was not as clean. It did not feel clean and no one, with the exception of our group, spoke English. We slept, read, and played cards to pass the time.

When we arrived in He Shan, we completed yet another health form and went through another health screening...they really take Swine Flu seriously in China! Health Officials boarded the ferry and took everyone's temperature with a "laser gun." After everyone on the ferry passed the health inspection, we proceeded off the ferry and to customs.

After customs we boarded a bus to Franke. I will never be able to explain the smell of that bus. It was NOT good, to say the least!

On the ride to Franke we passed through what appeared to be an extremely poor part of china-very different from our experience so far on the trip. There were lots of "shops" along the road and few cars. Most people were riding bikes.

Due to the health screening on the ferry, we were very behind schedule. As soon as we arrived at Franke we went on a tour of the office space. The office area was top notch. One strange thing we noticed was that several of the employees were sleeping at their desk. Monitors off, glasses off, heads down, sleeping. It seemed to be perfectly normal.

After the office tour we had lunch in the cafeteria. It was traditional Chinese and needless to say, most of us were starving when we arrived and starving when we left. After lunch we had a tour of the factory. It was a state of the art facility.

Aimee and I in our safety glasses for the factory tour.

Before heading back to the ferry, we made a quick stop by Victory. The conditions were far, far below that of Franke. There weren't many employees and those we did see did not have great working conditions. I was glad we did not spend much time there.

The trip to He Shan made me thankful to live in America and thankful for the working conditions that I am lucky to have.

When we arrived back in Hong Kong, Trish, Preston, Katie, James, Aimee and I walked to Outback for dinner. From watching us I am sure it appeared we had not eaten in days! Cheese fries, Coke, steak and potatoes for all!!

After dinner we made out way back to the hotel to pack for Beijing.

May 24, 2009

Let's see....where did I leave off??? I think I said we were planning to go to Macau.

Macau is China's Vegas. It was a GREAT surprise. It was amazing. We stopped at the MGM Grand first. We walked around, took some pictures and then had dinner. Cheeseburgers for dinner! YUM!

After dinner we took the shuttle to the Venetian...WOW! It was huge! We were told it has over 5,000 rooms and is one of the largest hotels in the world.

5,000+ Rooms!

Macau was definitely something I did not expect to see in China. It doesn't show any signs of slowing down either...there was construction going on in every direction.

We thought about taking a ride in one of these but decided

against it...since we would have had to "steal" it :)

Everyone feel asleep on the ferry ride home in preparation for our 6:45 am departure in the morning.

Jet Lag

I am back in the US and it is so nice to be home. I was not able to blog while in mainland China due to Internet restrictions, but I promise to update my blog in the next week or so with pictures and info on my trip.

Just wanted to let everyone know that we made it home safely. Once I catch up on my sleep and get my body back to "Nashville Time", I will post some updates about my trip!

Stay tuned...

No Blogging Today

Hello Friends!! This is Natasha (Candice asked me to post this for her), but she wanted me to relay the information that she can't post anything right now while in Beijing due to internet restrictions... she is crossing her fingers and hoping she'll be able to at the next hotel so she can update her on all her fabulous adventures in Asia!! Have a great day =)

Rain....

Hello from rainy Hong Kong!  It has been raining for two days. We didn't go to Disney yesterday, due to the rain.  However, I did go to Miranda's (pearl shop) and get pearls for me and my mom.  Don't worry ladies, I will get yours in Beijing!  I also got two really pretty rings...one pearl and one jade. I am super excited about them =)

Anyway, after that we watched the light show.  It was awesome.  All the lights on the buildings in Hong Kong light up to music.  It was really cool.  I tried to take some good pictures, but it was raining...so I'm not sure how good they are. 

Today we got up and had worship service with our group.  After that we went to Victoria's Peak. Victoria's Peak is the highest point on Hong Kong island.  We couldn't see really well because of the rain but it was still really cool.  I took lots of pictures but alot of them were from the bus window.  They are not really great pictures but you can get an idea of how high we were and the view of the city from there.

This is the view from the bus window going up to Victoria's Peak

We were hoping to go to the horse races this afternoon, but due to the rain...that is not working out either.  We are thinking about going to get massages right now and then heading to Macau later tonight.  Macau is Hong Kong's version of Vegas...they even have a Cirque show!

Well we are off to explore some more of the city.  Enjoy your Sunday back in the US!

Cub-This made me think of you! xo

Jet Lag...

I forgot to add this to the last post, blame it on the jet lag....

When we got here last night we were given several envelopes with cards from home.  I cannot tell you how surprised and excited I was to see that so many of you took the time to write me a "note from home".  I loved them and am sure I will read them often in the next few weeks.  Don't worry Mom, I haven't opened yours yet....I really am waiting until the days listed on the outside. Anyway, thank you for my cards....I have the best friends and am thankful for all of you.  

Off to bed....tomorrow we have another company visit and Disneyland Hong Kong!

p.s. phone still doesn't work and I still MISS

Hello from Hong Kong

Hello from Hong Kong!

I know you all want to know about the trip here....I got to the airport at 9:30 am Wednesday morning and arrived in Hong Kong about 11:00pm Thursday night-Hong Kong time...10:00 am Nashville time.  The flight really wasn't that bad.  The landing on our flight to Minneapolis was bumpy, to say the least.  During landing we were about 50 ft off the ground when the pilot pulled back up, "for our safety".  There were wind gusts of 50 mph but he got it right the second time.  Our flight to Toyko was delayed slightly so when we arrived we had to run to make our flight to Hong Kong.  They were holding the plane for us so we boarded and immediately passed out.  Once we arrived in Hong Kong we had a meeting at the hotel and then went to sleep for a few hours before our 8 am meeting this morning.

Here is a picture from our long flight to Tokyo...the Canadian Rockies

This morning we had our first company visit with Stanton Chase.  It was pretty interesting but everyone was really tired.  After Stanton Chase, Trish, Preston, James and I went to the Stanley Market.  We had lunch there (lemon chicken, rice and Coke) and then walked around.  I bought a canvas painting of Hong Kong...hopefully I can get one in each city and hang them all together. 

The market was cool...here are a few pictures of the cab ride there and the market.

Hong Kong

On the way to the market....totally different than the rest of Hong Kong we have seen.

Stanley Market

Tonight we had dinner at The China Club, a very exclusive, private club in Hong Hong.  Afterwards, we went on top of the building and had a wonderful view of the city.