The first day of school is often a major milestone – perhaps more so for parents than for their children. These Chinese parents could not resist the urge to spy on their kids during that first schoolday, which started this week. This is an article that Miranda co-wrote for www.whatsonweibo.com Huge thanks to the wonderful Manya Koetse for her help and support in editing the article. Click here to read the rest of the article on whatsonweibo
3 Days in Bagan – Myanmar’s Temple City Without a doubt Bagan is a highlight of any trip to Myanmar, it is without a shadow of a doubt one of the most impressive places we have ever been. However, you will have to share your experience with quite a few other tourists, as you should expect when coming to a place of such cultural and historical significance. However it is very possible to escape the crowds and find yourself a temple with only a few goats for company. The first piece of advice would be to spend a couple of dollars more and rent an e bike, it will get you through the “off piste” sections far easier than a push bike. This will make it much easier to get away from the tourists and into the more secluded areas of this UNESCO world heritage site. Check that the battery…
A personal story by a Weibo netizen about an altercation with a Muslim man on the Bund in Shanghai has stirred wide debate on Chinese social media. The case has evoked both anti-Islamic sentiments and anger about censorship in the name of ‘ethnic unity.’ This is an article that we co-wrote for www.whatsonweibo.com Huge thanks to the wonderful Manya Koetse for her help and support in editing the article. Click here to read the rest of the article on whatsonweibo
A Chinese man running a small-scale website on which he sold VPN software has been sentenced to 9 months in prison. Weibo netizens take the man’s prosecution as another sign that authorities are stepping up their fight against software that allows people to browse websites that are blocked in China. This is an article that Miranda co-wrote for www.whatsonweibo.com Huge thanks to the wonderful Manya Koetse for her help and support in editing the article. Click here to read the rest of the article on whatsonweibo
It is a story that just keeps trending on Weibo; the separation between actor Wang Baoqiang and his estranged wife Ma Rong due to an illicit love affair with Wang’s manager Song Zhe. With Ma allegedly regretting the split and Song having been arrested for embezzlement, many netizens say that “justice has been served.” This is an article that we put together for www.whatsonweibo.com Huge thanks to the wonderful Manya Koetse for her help and support in editing the article. Click here to read the rest of the article on whatsonweibo
第一次带白熊先生回家见长辈。 之前一直纠结对我妈的称呼。 因为在他的文化里就直呼长辈大名便可。 我说就叫阿姨就可以啦。 他很困惑，阿姨？ 那不是打扫卫生的清洁工吗？ 他自己还一度跃跃欲试， 要不叫你妈大黄猪？ 我=。=。 那你都不知道自己是怎么死的。 * * * 还是带他回家的时候。 去拜访我的外公外婆。 电梯里他问， 我们现在是去看爷爷和姥姥吗？ 我：咱别乱配对行吗？ * * 那天我姨妈第一次见到白熊先生， 感慨说哎呀你还挺高的。 白熊连忙摆手做谦虚状， 我不高，不高， 其实我有点短……. 典型的内心英翻中同步ing… 过后被我揪着问，噗哈哈哈哪里短？！？！ * * 类似英翻中的梗还有一个， 也是之前跟我回家见家人。 临走告别时想跟我妈致谢， 用脚趾头都猜到他脑子里 想的是英文“appreciate”， 结果实际的场景是， 在火车站握着我妈的手说， 我很欣赏你这几天的招待……. 你以为你是什么大领导啊摔 还欣赏我妈这两天的招待…. * * * 有天和白熊先生在街上走忽然很想嘘嘘， 他指指路边说，呐，草丛咯。 我作势真要走过去抬起一条腿做嘘嘘状。 白熊先生也不示弱，兴奋滴喊， 你去尿呀！我gan你！ 我……..你说什么？ 白熊先生大声重复一遍，我gan你！ 此时已有路人侧目， 我: (不得不用他母语) what did you say? 他也很配合，I dare you~~我gan（敢）你！ #哈哈哈歪果仁想当然英文直译自己造词略萌# * I dare you，激将法，“量你也不敢”的意思。
An article that surfaced on July 22nd 2017 was sent in by a concerned girlfriend. Source: 北美吐槽 (Bei Mei Tu Cao) “I have never been pregnant, and as a result I don’t truly understand the emotions a mother goes through. So maybe I am surprised by something that is quite normal, but I this incident has really left me dumbstruck.” The incident relates to the said woman’s boyfriend and a female colleague that he works with. She says that while many of his colleagues are female however the vast majority are married and have children. She also states it’s quite an open, relaxed working environment, where there are not a lot of secrets hidden amongst colleagues. “Today my boyfriend told me that one of his colleagues who has just had a child used her own breast milk to make soap. She then gave this soap out to everyone in the…
An unconventional route to Pyin Oo Lwin Read any travel guide on Mandalay and they will all tell a similar story, “not a lot in the city centre, but a great base to explore the surrounding area.” As dismissive as this sounds, they aren’t wrong. Mandalay is not particularly easy on the eye, and it doesn’t really have cool hip factor of Yangon or other major Asian cities. However, like the guidebooks say it is a fantastic place to base yourself to explore the surrounding area. We rented a motorbike from Mandalay Motorbikes, who we would definitely recommend. The owner Zac does custom tours through Myanmar when he is not Mandalay. When we were renting our bike we got chatting to his wife about where we were headed and she gave us a great tip on a stunning road route from Mandalay to Pyin Oo Lwin. Take route 3…
勃朗拉邦，无疑堪称东南亚绝伦明珠中璀璨的一颗。宜人的景色、精美的寺庙，及丰富的美食，整个城市被连绵的群山和蜿蜒的乡间小路环绕，使人一不小心就多留了几日。 这座被列入世界文化遗产的小镇周边有很多适合当天往返的景点，光西瀑布就是其中之一。距镇上30公里，需要自行安排交通工具。通常有两种选择，可以和同去的游客一起搭一辆tuk tuk，或者租一辆电动车自己骑过去（通常是电动车，因为摩托车价格高一些，而且数量较少）。 老挝的Tuk Tuk在东南亚都算大的，可以坐下好几个人，一起分摊费用。我去的时候是2015年夏天，价格很友好，大概在20到30美金之间，尤其是还可以几个人摊。我当时没有选这个方案，而是从留宿的客栈租了一辆电动车上了路。有一点要注意就是通常租电动车会被要求留下护照作为抵押，从客栈租就可以省却这个麻烦。 琅勃拉邦对于成群的背包客们有着不小的吸引力，自己租一辆电动车骑过去不失为一个避开人群独自探寻美丽小镇的好办法。瀑布很容易找到，沿途的风景也美的没话说~ 在快到瀑布的地方可以把电动车停在存车点，需要缴纳大约2000kip的停车费和16000kip的门票。（这些是2015年的价格，现在可能有变）经过门口的月熊保护中心（没错，我也觉得有点莫名其妙）就看到第一个碧蓝色的水潭了。我想着在下水前再四处转转，后来被证实是个不错的决定。通往山顶最大瀑布的小路又滑又陡，最好不要穿人字拖。瀑布顶部的风景更是独好，而且还有好几个水潭可以让你泡泡一双爬山爬累了的腿。 大多数人都选择泡在低处的水潭里。我的经验是看看当地人选哪个水潭下水。需要注意的是，景区仅有两处更衣室，所以尽量提前把泳衣穿在里面。而且至少在我去的那会瀑布边是没有存包处的，大家都把随身物品放在水潭边上。我当时就把重要物品都塞在背包里，确保一直在视线范围内的地方。尽管老挝在东南亚地区算是非常安全的国家，多留个心总不会错的。 光西瀑布的确是老挝最美的景色之一。骑上电动车去慢慢逛吧。下面的一些照片能让你领略一二，不过实景总是有着照片无可比拟的美。 [soliloquy id=”158″]
Fiji, is rightly considered to be a tropical paradise, and whilst this is completely accurate, it is not all that Fiji has to offer. Back in 2008, I took a rather shaky flight from Nadi on the main island of Viti Levu to a small town called Labassa located on Fiji’s second island of Vanua Levu. From here it was 5-6 hour bus ride down to the costal town of Savu Savu. There were two reasons for coming here, 1 – Great diving, 2- Very few other people do. The latter of these choices was confirmed when I made of 50% of the passengers on my flight. After 3 days of diving I opted for a change of pace and rented a motorbike and decided to spend a day driving around the island. Armed with a bottle of water and a broken camera (the screen didn’t work, but…
It is rather disconcerting to find yourself part way up a mountain, around dinner time, as storm clouds are rolling in. No-one around you, the only guesthouses are somewhere “on the trail” according to the guidebook and the final cherry on the top of this rather frustrating predicament is that its hot, humid and you’ve got a mouthful of water left. To understand how I ended up in this position, I need to rewind a little. I’d managed to sneak in some annual leave to get a short 5 day break built around my Tuesday and Wednesday weekend back in July 2013. I decided to use this time to take a trip down to Chengdu, one of Chinas coolest and most happening cities. Great food, great scenery and a dialect of Mandarin that can leave even the most proficient speaker confused and befuddled. I landed in Chengdu on Monday lunchtime…
If you have never been scuba diving before it really is something that should be added to your bucketlist. Not only do you have the opportunity to get up close and personal with some incredible sea creatures, it is also one of most peaceful feelings you can experience. I’ve been fortunate enough to dive in Thailand, Fiji and the Cook Islands. Not a long list, but a pretty good one (I plan to get Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines on there at some point). Diving in the Cook Islands is quite unique in comparison to other places. Due to the fact that islands are atolls formed from volcanos the comes a point where the sea floor drops off and below you is 2000m of ocean. A sheer underwater drop if you will. On the island side you have a wall of rock that the island is built on and on…
