New Year's Getaway
As a sort of last minute trip, a bunch of us, about 15 to be precise, took off to Kenting for the weekend. It's a southern town right on the ocean surrounded by green mountains. It was amazing! We stayed at the Winson House, a surf shack/homestay place right across the street from the ocean and that had a little cafe attached. It was out in the middle of nowhere, but we rented scooters and there was a bus into town, and it was nice to be out of the city.
Saturday afternoon, we had a bit of bad weather as the wind kicked up and it started to rain halfway back from town on the scooters. As we drove up and down the mountains, it got a little hairy because the winds were so strong. Driving past the sand dunes was no fun experience either! I'm glad I wear glasses since that helped me to keep my eyes open a little more than a squint, but the other folks were having hard time! Amazingly enough, it was Alisha's first time on a scooter and she did awesome! If it was my first time, I think I would've pulled over and started crying. It was a little scary. Luckily, we made it back to our place without incident, downed a few beers and then headed into to town for dinner. After some bar hopping and a bit of embarrassing behavior, it was New Years after all, we headed back to Winson House for some beachside fireworks and moongazing.
The next day was beautiful! It warmed up, the sun came out, and we took to the scooters for a trip into the mountains. Our little scooter gang (we were driving about 6 or 7 scooters) drove through some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen and passed a bunch of small towns. It was interesting to see people come out of their home to watch the freakish display of 10 foreigners riding past. Little kids pointed and yelled "Weiguoren! Weiguoren! (Foreigners! Foreigners!) People smiled and waved, some stared, and others spotaneously burst into laughter to see us. On our way back down the mountain, we decided to stop at a restaurant. We pulled up to a place that looked full, and sent Jessie (the only one of us who speaks Chinese well) over to ask if it was a restaurant or not. Turns out it was a party for a one-month old baby. They invited us to sit down and eat as much as we wanted. The only thing they asked was that we sing them some karaoke! They had rented a machine for the occasion so Alisha, Emilie, and I sang Wake Me Up (Before you go go) and then I sang Are You Lonesome Tonight? It was a blast and the family was super excited to have us sing horribly for them. :) They gave us food, cigarettes, and thanked us profusely for coming. We didn't quite understand why until Jessie translated, "They said that they don't see many foreigners around here and since there are so many of us and we happened to stop by, it must mean that the baby will be very lucky." After the took a least two rolls of film of us eating, posing with the parents, family, and baby in turn, we left. We had to catch a bus back at 3 and it was already 2pm. We tried to give them a red envelope with money in it for the baby (a traditional gift for a party like that), but they refused and shooed us away. We hopped on our scooters said "Thank You" in unison in Chinese and then rode off into the sunset. Sarah, the Brit who was riding on my scooter, said, "Maybe we could quit our jobs and just drive around the countryside blessing babies!" I laughed and agreed, "Sounds like a good gig to me!"
As we piled onto the bus, exhausted, I plopped down and just watched the mountains and ocean fade awayas the building began to grow into a city and thought about how I never imagined I would be spending the first day of 2005 in such an amazing place!
Saturday afternoon, we had a bit of bad weather as the wind kicked up and it started to rain halfway back from town on the scooters. As we drove up and down the mountains, it got a little hairy because the winds were so strong. Driving past the sand dunes was no fun experience either! I'm glad I wear glasses since that helped me to keep my eyes open a little more than a squint, but the other folks were having hard time! Amazingly enough, it was Alisha's first time on a scooter and she did awesome! If it was my first time, I think I would've pulled over and started crying. It was a little scary. Luckily, we made it back to our place without incident, downed a few beers and then headed into to town for dinner. After some bar hopping and a bit of embarrassing behavior, it was New Years after all, we headed back to Winson House for some beachside fireworks and moongazing.
The next day was beautiful! It warmed up, the sun came out, and we took to the scooters for a trip into the mountains. Our little scooter gang (we were driving about 6 or 7 scooters) drove through some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen and passed a bunch of small towns. It was interesting to see people come out of their home to watch the freakish display of 10 foreigners riding past. Little kids pointed and yelled "Weiguoren! Weiguoren! (Foreigners! Foreigners!) People smiled and waved, some stared, and others spotaneously burst into laughter to see us. On our way back down the mountain, we decided to stop at a restaurant. We pulled up to a place that looked full, and sent Jessie (the only one of us who speaks Chinese well) over to ask if it was a restaurant or not. Turns out it was a party for a one-month old baby. They invited us to sit down and eat as much as we wanted. The only thing they asked was that we sing them some karaoke! They had rented a machine for the occasion so Alisha, Emilie, and I sang Wake Me Up (Before you go go) and then I sang Are You Lonesome Tonight? It was a blast and the family was super excited to have us sing horribly for them. :) They gave us food, cigarettes, and thanked us profusely for coming. We didn't quite understand why until Jessie translated, "They said that they don't see many foreigners around here and since there are so many of us and we happened to stop by, it must mean that the baby will be very lucky." After the took a least two rolls of film of us eating, posing with the parents, family, and baby in turn, we left. We had to catch a bus back at 3 and it was already 2pm. We tried to give them a red envelope with money in it for the baby (a traditional gift for a party like that), but they refused and shooed us away. We hopped on our scooters said "Thank You" in unison in Chinese and then rode off into the sunset. Sarah, the Brit who was riding on my scooter, said, "Maybe we could quit our jobs and just drive around the countryside blessing babies!" I laughed and agreed, "Sounds like a good gig to me!"
As we piled onto the bus, exhausted, I plopped down and just watched the mountains and ocean fade awayas the building began to grow into a city and thought about how I never imagined I would be spending the first day of 2005 in such an amazing place!
posted by CJ at 8:39 PM
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