Next Stop: Auckland, New Zealand

The flight to Auckland was quick and easy. We slept for pretty much the whole thing (well...'slept') and woke up in New Zealand. This was the third time we were arriving in a new country in two weeks, so we were pretty confident about the whole procedure.

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011.


We arrived in Auckland around noon, so we had the whole afternoon to explore the city. We checked into our hostile, and after a small shock from the 8 bed dorm room and random Korean dude sleeping on the bare matrice, we headed out to find the sky tower. It wasn't very hard in the tiny city of Auckland, all we had to do was look up. We chose to go on the skywalk which is a stroll along a 1 meter wide catwalk about, say, 235 meteres up in the air. This was quite the experience, and the best way to see the city. We had our opportunities to lean against our harness, over the edge of the catwalk, and get a full veiw of the buildings and people down below.



After the skywalk, we just decided to explore the rest of the city. We walked down to the waterfront, and along their main city street, Queen street. After a long walk around the city and hungry stomachs, we decided to attempt to make some dinner money on the main street of Auckland. Jj took out his beautiful baby Taylor, cleared his throat, and legally (atleast we think its legal) busked for the Kiwis (this is what the citizens of New Zealand call themselves). After busking for a bit (and filming with a camcorder... therefore not making more than 20 cents that came from a homeless man) we ate a quick dinner (not to mention that Jj got charged 0.20 cents to toast his sandwich that costed 6 bucks) and decided to call it an early night to catch up on the sleep that we lost the night before.

Thursday, January 20th, 2011.

To start off our day we headed over to the wonderful and healthy "Denny's" for a budget breakfast of $5.00. After Denny's we walked around taking pictures by the water and then decided to catch the next fairy ride out to a volcanic island called "Devenport," 12 minutes away from Auckland. Today was exceptionally hot and perfect weather to be roaming around an island. As soon as we arrived we decided to immediately head over to the Volcanic Cone. Instead of taking the proper route up (by road) we decided to climb the grassy mountain (with Birkenstocks) so that we could get to the top as fast as possible. The view from the top of Mount Victoria was absolutely incredible (it was a different view than the one we got from the skywalk). It allowed us to see all of Auckland from the other side of the water, as well as the rest of the volcanic islands surrounding Auckland Harbour. After a tiring walk down, we headed over to find the nicest beach on the island. The sun was shining for the entire walk, but obviously when we got there the sun decided to take a nap. We cut our beach chill short to catch the ferry back to Auckland, but with empty stomachs we were enticed by a 2 for 1 meal deal on the way to the pier. This ended up being our best meal of New Zealand. For 8 bucks each, we shared a HUGE chicken salad and chicken sandwich leaving us satisfied and ready to leave back to Auckland. Once back in Auckland, we went grocery shopping for some fruits and granola bars. We just relaxed that night and went to bed early because we had to wake up for our bus to Rotorua the next morning.

Friday, January 21st, 2011.

We left Auckland in a Rush and ran with our backpacks and gear up the steep slop of Victoria St. to the bus stop (The weather was HOT that morning, and we lost shoes and food etc along the way too). We just made it to the bus, and crashed for the bus ride in relief that we didnt miss our ride. Four hours later (although it didn't feel like that long) we were walking down the sulfur-smelling street (For some reason the whole entire town smells like eggs) to Cactus Jacks Backpackers. We were greeted by a very enthused patron, and Dan, the extremely helpful receptionist, who quickly convinced us to go rafting and skydiving that day. After checking into this AWESOME hostel, we booked both skydiving and water rafting and were expcting a pick up in the next hour. Getting excited for the events to come, obviously the weather had to retaliate. Unfortunately it got super windy and rainy and skydiving and rafting was a no go (too unsafe to skydive in such strong winds). Very disappointed, since we did bus over to the city of Roturua for their famous extreme sports we decided to book both for the next morning (hoping that they would be done just in time to catch our bus back to Auckland). That night we met, none other than wicked israeli.. took our the guitar.. got some delicious chicken dinner and chilles at the hostel with a crew.

Saturday, January 22nd, 2011.

Waking up to our 7AM alarm clock excited to go skydiving, we look out the window and the weather doesnt look promising.Our good ol' friend Dan (the receptionist) had left a note for us at the office that said "no sky diving today :(".. imagine how happy we were! Instead of ruining our mood we decided to stay positive and look forward to the rafting trip.. Which to get to the point ended up getting jacked by other backpackers. So yes, in the end of it all, we werent able to do any extreme sports in Roturua and missed out on that experience. We Auckland we checked into Base Hostel and needed to get our drank on! We went out to Globe Bar for 5 dollar drinks and a night of playing pool and meeting other backpackers.

Sunday, January 23rd, 2011.

Today was another pretty shitty weather day, so we decided to take it easy and wait for the rest of the clan that we were meeting up with (kotov, adi, noam and tanya). We had a nice 5 dollar breakfast at Dennys and had some internet time before they came. We finally met up with the rest of them, showed them around the city, went grocery shopping and picked up a bunch of stuff for dinner (including a full two chickens for 16bucks :)) That night we went back to Globe Bar for some free drinks and a pool tournament (Kotov made it to second round by default :P)

Monday, January 24th, 2011.

Another thing to look forward to was our day of "Canyoning" (which you could probably guess was another epic fail due to weather). The shitty part was that we got picked up, drove an hour to the site, got our gear on, hiked to the start... only to find out that the waterlevel and rain was not safe and therefore couldnt go. We weren driven back to the city and since we got our money back obviosuly decided to go shopping :P. After a TIRING day of shopping, and missing Canada so much, we decided to go to Below 5 (a bar made fully out of ice.. including the cup you drink from) for the night. Before heading over to the bar, kotov and JJ stood on Queen Street (main street Auckland) and busked their lives away (forgetting that the girls even existed haha). Through their busking experience they recruited one really drunk old man who looked like a preist gone wrong and a hipster musician who were pretty sure was homeless and on a lot of drugs. (the video shows it all). Ice Bar was a great time, we enjoyed our iced alcoholic beverage and picture taking (check facebook for the ice bar picture of the six of us).

Tuesday, January 25th, 2011.

Last day here but deffinetly one of the BEST day in New Zealand, Jay and I were finally able to go skydiving (even though it was the same of our flight out). Picked up at 9AM and done the hole deal by 11AM, we had an incredible time and can finally say WE DID IT!!!!!! (pictures and video will be uploaded when we can)! After skydiving we met back up with the rest and headed to the airport, for our next journey back to aussie (this timewe were flying in the Cairns).

* The computer were on will not allow us to upload the videos (they will be posted as soon as we get a functional computer)

Next Stop: Melbourne Australia

After a REALLY long flight on Air China (and definetly not an enjoyable) we were finally greeted by the Den family in Melbourne Asutralia. The Dens were so kind to house us for our five days in Melbourne, so it really felt like home! We didn't have the worry of being in a hostel and living out of a bag.

Friday, January 14th, 2011.
The first day we arrived, we took a little nap since we were so started from the un-airconditioned, turbulatronic (who knows if thats even a word) flight by the "lovely" Air China. O and we can't forget to mention that the captain attempted to land 6 different times (each time with no update on what was going on). After our terribly long nap, Michael Den decided to take us out on a little adventure in Melbourne - or should I say drop us off and tell us to go exploring. We were dropped off at a park by the water and were told to just head over to Ackland street. We saw beautiful beaches along the waterfront path and stopped to watch a Cricket game, for which we had no clue what was going on. Ackland street was beautiful and full of life... it was essentially the Yorkville of Melbourne. That night Julie Den's parents had us over for a tasteful Shabbat Dinner (which was a good change from our usual Kon Fu Po).
Ps. The cinnammon roll was absolutely AMAZING!



Saturday, January 15th, 2011.
Elyse Den was kind enough to invite us over to her friends Vacation House (cottage in Australian terms) in Portsea/Sorento. We arrived to the house and met a bunch of Elyse's mates (Aussie versions of Thornhillian Jews) After our estimaetd arrival time of 11:30 AM, we hit the bottle and took some shots at wee hours of the morning. To top it off we had a nice breakfast of Scrambled eggs and toast, with a side of Wine. We headed over to the Portsea Pub and lived the life of the Rich and Famous, or simply lived the life of an Aussie.

A Day in the Life of an Australian:

11:30 AM: Take Shots
12:00 PM: Arrive at Pub
12:10 PM: Buy a Pint of Beer ($10 AUD = $12 CDN)
12:15 PM: Buy a Pitcher of Cider ($40 AUD = $45 CDN)
12:20 PM: Buy another Pitcher of Cider
12:25 PM: Go to the "Toilet" or "Lavatory"
12:30 PM: Buy a Pint of Beer
12:45 PM: Smoke
12:50 PM - 11:00 PM: REPEAT ABOVE STEPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
11:30 PM: Eat a HUGE platter of Nachos made from Cheesy Doritos topped with avocado, cheese, beans and salsa.

Thats the Day in the life of an Australian.
Ps. Unfortunately we had to ditch this life half way through.

Sunday, January 16th, 2011.
After a wonderful sleep, Jay left with the Boys to go pick up Nathan's Boat (yacht). Mirelle and the ladies met us at the pier in Portsea, and went for a transbay boat tour. We saw some beautiful beach houses, including a 26 million dollar one, and ended up on the other side of the bay in Queenscliff. We stopped for a healthy lunch (burgers and fries) to top off the healthy snacks we were eating during the boat ride (roasted peanuts and pretzels). We arrived back in Portsea and left to go back to Melbourne for another healthy dinner (Barbeque and Julie's AMAZING rocky road icecream).

Monday, January 17th, 2011.
Feeling pretty fat after the weekend's festivities, we hopped on some bikes and decided to adventure down the 8km bike path to the downtown Melbourne area. Two hours later, we found Federation Square, famously located in the centre of downtown Melbourne. Watch the videos to see what downtown looks like, and the 'heaps' of people who spend their time watchin tennis at Federation Square. After another 8km ride home, we were welcomed by the Efrons and Dens for another scrumptious and healthy dinner of Thai, Chinese, and pizza (not to mention leftovers of Julie's rocky road). After dinner we all crowded around Eve, Adam and Elyse Den's other sister, to watch her swallow a rat whole. (Dont worry, she is a 4 foot long Boa Constrictor)

Tuesday, January 18th, 2011.

We were feeling pretty lazy from the week's stomach workouts, so we just hung out around the house and got ready to leave for New Zealand that 'night' (or morning... whatever you want to call it). After work, Rodney Efron and Michael were kind enough to take us down to Brighton beach to get our long awaited picture by the colourful huts (Mirelle was dying to see these things, google it). We came home for of course, another 'divine' home cooked meal, along with more of Julie's rocky road). That night, Brogan Efron and her boyfriend Dan showed us a great night at the local bar, The Local. The night was complete with some Cherry Beer for Mirelle and wine for Brogan, while the boys tested their luck with a random selection of 10 wildly different beers (Thanks Brogan and Dan, we had an awesome night). We arrived home at 12, just in time to start packing and get a good nights sleep of a total of 2 hours.

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011.

Waking up to a noisy alarm at 3a.m. was just amazing! We said our goodbyes to Julie and of course Bruce (The 4th child in the family, a brucey Australian Cattle Dog full of endless amounts of energy), and hopped back in the car with Michael for the airport drive. The airport was absolutely packed (NATTTT) and we had to wait in endless lines (NATTTT) and it really wasnt that early in the morning in the end (NATTTT). On to our 6a.m. (With Quantas, a HUGE upgrade from Air China) flight and on to the next part of our amazing journey, New Zealand.

We would like to add a huge thanks to the Dens for having us, and to both the Dens and Efrons for showing us a great time in Melbourne and making us feel at home. Also a big thanks to Elyse for including us in her trip to Portsea.

Shanghai, China Continued!

Tuesday, January 11th 2011.
Day three started off at the Jade Budda Temple. We got there on the first day of the new month (in the chinese calender) so it was absolutely packed with people. There was a huge lineup, and at first we thought it was to get into the temple, but we later found out that it was actually a lineup to get free soup (The things these people would do for free food). So 20 yuan later (3 buckaroonis), we were both in the temple, absolutely blown away by the beauty of the ancient chinese architecture and the massive buddist statues. The way they prayed and worshipped the statues was very different from anything we were used to seeing. Check out the video and you'll get a better glimpse of what were talking about.

After the Jade Buddah temple we cabbed on down to the riverside Bund area of Shanghai. The Bund area consists of buildings with architecture from different eras of Shanghai's history. The cold weather mixed with our serious lack of attention spans allowed us to move quickly down the stairs into the Bund sightseeing tunnel. This is a train that goes through a tunnel, beneath the Shanghai river to the Pudong area of the city. The tunnel has lights and music and is pretty much a huge tourist trap, but for 50 yuan ($7.70) you really can't go wrong. The next video was taken from the tunnel and shows the lights and the beautiful face of Jay.

We came out of the sightseeing and strained our necks to see the top of the Oriental TV tower. The building was massive, and reminded us in alot of ways of the CN tower back home. After a short walk, and 120 yuan ($18.50, the most 'expensive' attraction of our trip) we were on the way up the elevator to the middle observation deck. Not gonna lie, it really wasn't anything special having been on the CN tower many times, but it gave us a new perspective of the sheer size of Shanghai. When you look out (and you can kind of see from the video, however the smog over the city makes it hard- thank the 20 million people living there) there are buildings as far as you can see in every dirction. We proceeded down one story to the amazing glass floor - way better than the one in the CN tower. It circled the entire building, and the walls enclosing it were made of glass too, giving us an uneasy feeling when we first stepped onto it. Unfortunately the weather up there was freezing, so we decided to head down and back to the main area of Shanghai. Before heading back we stopped for some real Shanghanese food (jokes, we ate Subway Sandwiches) and got a little bit lost trying to find the Shanghai sex and culture museum.

That was about it for us for the day, we were exhausted, and decided to get some rest for the next day of our adventure.

Wednesday, January 12th 2011.
Today we woke up at about 6AM because we still couldn't adjust to the time zone. We headed over to our hotels "Western" style breakfast at 7Am and were out and about by 8AM. Our first stop was the Yuyuan Garden. This Garden must have been the nicest garden we have ever seen. The garden was surrounded by rich chinese huts, loads of chinese shops and ofcourse a Starbucks (must we point out that the Starbucks was only full of tourists). Watch the video and you'll get a better taste of the Yuyuan Garden

After a day full of pictures, roaming around the garden, eating delicious spring rolls and bargain shopping we decided to head over to the Jewish Center of Shanghai. The funny part was that no one knew about this area so it was quite a risk we were taking. We got our hotel concierge to write down the address in chinese, which we thought would take us to the right place. On the way to the center we stopped at a Starbucks to get a hot drink and warm up. While Mirelle was ordering her drink, a man next to her was getting extremely mad at the other cashier and slamming his visa card on the counter. Now you have to understand, we have no clue what is going on because we cant understand what there saying. The next thing we know, this man is yelling at the cashier. The cashier retaliates by WHIPPING trays at the guy! The man fights back by slapping him. If only we got it on video. We got a kick out of seeing how chinese men fight. It was more like a bitch fight, than a fist fight :). Long story short we never ended up finding the Jewish center. It practically didnt exist. But we did walk in a random city that had no tourist in (again).

Anyway, we took the subway back to the main city sqaure and walked down Nanjing road to find a place to eat. Leave it up to the Canadians to choose McDonalds in China. This part of our trip was deffinetly video worthy... and plus Mirelle hasn't had McDonalds in AGES so we had to document:

Stuffed from McDonalds and exhausted from all the walking we headed back to our hotel for a quick nap. That night we bought tickets to the Haungpu River Cruise. Basically this is a cruise that takes you around the city of Shanghai by water. It lets you see all the buildings lit up at night time. It takes about 45 minutes to go around the entire river. It was really beautiful, but extremely COLD! (Sorry for recording such a fast video, it was SO cold I couldnt bare to end it):

Thursday, January 13th 2011.
This was our last day before we headed over to catch a flight toMelbourne, Aussie. We woke up pretty early and decided we were going to go back to the markets by Yuyan Garden. But on the way there we ended up getting lost in the most INCREDIBLE market ever. This market went on for miles and miles and had no tourist in site (other than us). Here's where we did some WILD shopping! By this time our bargaining tactics were down pat! This market had everything for SOOOO CHEAP - so obviously we went absolutely crazy.

The Bargaining Rule:
A step-by-step guide

1. You ask how much.
2. The Chinesians will then give you a ridiculous price simply because you re foreign. They will then ask you to type in (everything is communicated by a calculator because they dont speak a word of English) your offer.
3. Instead of typing in your offer you motion then a thumbs down. Tell them to go lower with their offer. They will start going lower and eventually stop at a (still) ridiculous price.
4. You then offer them about 60-80% less of their price. Thats when they laugh at you and say NOOO!!!
5. You say ok, thats too expensive and walk away. I can garauntee that 100% of the time they will chase after you (we were already on the other side of the road and got chased after).
6. After they call you back into their store they still try and bargain and once again you say No, give them your offer and start walking away. The next thing you know, the "Foreigner" (that's what were reffered to in China) has won!
Here's a video of how we did it:

After a full day of bargain shopping, we headed back to our hotel to pick up our bags. We cabbed over to the Maglev train. The train took us back to the airport where we started.

Goodbye Shanghai, Hello Melbourne, Australia!

Were Back to Reality!

After a full 5 days on a different planet (China), where the internet is restricted and the people don't know english we have finally come back to reality! Apologies for not being able to update our blog. Heres a day to day play by play of what we've been up to so far...

Saturday, January 8th 2011.


Sunday, January 9th 2011.
After a LONG LONG LONG (npb) 13 hour flight (although not so terrible) we finally arrived to Shanghai China. Disregarding the communication issues (very impossible to ask for help at the airport), we hopped on the Maglev Train for 50 RNB ($8) which took us closer to our destination. Keep in mind, this train took 8 minutes (an estimated time of 45 minutes by cab) at a speed of 300 km/h. We then took a 15 minute cab ride 36 RNB ($5.50) to our hotel (located in central Shanghai). We checked into our king size suite at the Salvo Hotel. If we could recommend a hotel for all of you who are planning to go to shanghai, it would definetly be this one! The people were great (they spoke A BIT of english - a bit is better than none), the rooms were beautiful and the food wasn't terrible. That night we took a quick stroll on some random streets of shanghai (it was a bit nerve racking), where we bargained for a pair of gloves (we definitely didn't prepare for -3 degree weather). All in all the travel wasn't all that terrible and the real journey around shanghai starts tomorrow!

Monday, January 10th 2011.
As we started to get more comfortable with the area and realized that we only have 5 days in this dream country we decided to be adventorous. Our first stop was the random chinese markets that we happened to stumble upon - called 1930's lane. Walking through the markets was an adventure in itself. It is an eye opener to see the look on these peoples faces - its as if they've never seen a white person before, or should I say "foreginer/alien" (that's what were called in China). One things forsure though; Chinese people sure know how to hustle - but they also don't know when to quit. Its plain and simple. Its called the calcutor game. They take out their calculator, try to rip you off by typing in a ridiculous price in hopes that you will be a dumb idiot to pay so much, and then the bargaining begins. After a while we learnt that the trick was to give them a super low price and if they dont agree just walk away... they always come chasing after you (even if your already across the street :)) Anyway, after the markets we continued on to Peoples square and then Shanghai Museum (the touristy stuff that we have to say we did). We then walked down Nanjing Road, which is considered trouist central. Everything on this road is overpriced and targeted to tourists - it wasn't exactly our cup of tea, although if you did ever go we do suggest you visit "the bun" bakery/cafe to try the most delicious and unique pastry type foods. Finally, we finsihed off our day with the Chinese Acrobatic Night Show, which was phenominal!