‘Chris Walbert’ Archive
This entry was posted February 11th, 2008 and has 1 comment.
After a week in China, I arrived back in Baltimore on Friday evening. The trip was so much fun as well as being an amazing experience. This is a trip that I won’t soon forget.
So, now it’s back to normal life and back to work tomorrow. But for one last blog on the topic, I’ll share some of my favorite photos from the trip. Just click on the thumbnail to see the larger version.
There are more after the jump.
The full gallery of photos is now on Picasa.
Continue reading Home Sweet Baltimore
Posted in Baltimore, Chris Walbert, travel
This entry was posted February 7th, 2008 and has 1 comment.
Xin nein kuai le.
Last night we celebrated Chinese New Year and rang in 2008, the year of the rat. After journeying around the city all day we grabbed a quick bite to eat and then went out in search of people celebrating the new year. All through the city there were people walking around and setting off fireworks. We then stopped in the Hyatt bar that overlooks The Bund. We were up really high and had an awesome view of the river and all of the buildings surrounding it.
Continue reading Chinese New Year
Posted in China, Chris Walbert
This entry was posted February 7th, 2008 and has no nomments.
Tuesday was the first day that I could actually sleep in and get some much needed rest. We got kind of a late start on the day and since it was raining, we decided just to go get massages. This was the first professional massage I’ve ever gotten and it was definitely worth it.
After that we came home and hung out before going to dinner at Chrissy’s friends Mark and Natalie’s house. Dinner was excellent, but then their sixth and seventh grade sons destroyed us in Guitar Hero. Those kids can wail.
After dinner we headed to this cool jazz club called the Cotton Club. It was a nice little joint with live music. We weren’t there too terribly long, but had a good time regardless.
Continue reading More Fun in Shanghai
Posted in China, Chris Walbert
This entry was posted February 4th, 2008 and has 6 comments.
After the Great Wall, we visited the Summer Palace, Tiananmen Square, and went to a really cool local restaurant where we ate Beijing Duck and tons of food for a total of about $25. Then we went to the airport to head back to Shanghai. Again, the flight was delayed and we hung out in the airport for another 3 hours. I took a bunch of pictures and posted them here.
This morning, after watching the Super Bowl and almost losing all electricity at the apartment, we ventured back out into the streets. We visited the local DVD salesman, where I purchased seasons 1-4 of The Wire for 105 RMB, which equates to about $14. Then we went to the Oriental Pearl Tower, Yu Yuan, walked through a shikumen which is an old Chinese neighborhood with lots of street vendors, and then ate dinner at a Brazilian steak house in Jing An. Pictures from the first day in Shanghai can be seen here.
Continue reading Shanghai
Posted in China, Chris Walbert
This entry was posted February 3rd, 2008 and has 3 comments.
I forgot to introduce the fourth member of our group at the end of the last post. Chrissy’s friend Emily, who lives in Beijing, met us at the airport and accompanied us through the rest of our time in Beijing. Besides being a really nice person, it was also invaluable to have Emily with us since she speaks the language and could negotiate for us. I think she had a lot of fun also. She even learned how to tell a “That’s what she said” joke.
Saturday morning we took a bus about an hour outside of the city and arrived at The Great Wall of China. This was definitely one of the parts of the trip that I was looking forward to the most, and it did not disappoint. If you can’t tell from the pictures, it was really cold, I think somewhere around 15-20 degrees with a biting wind.
The view from the Wall was amazing. The wall was built on top of the highest parts of the mountains to give the Chinese protection against the Mongols by allowing them to defend themselves as well as attack their invaders.
Continue reading The Great Wall
Posted in China, Chris Walbert
This entry was posted February 3rd, 2008 and has 1 comment.
Ron and I left BWI Airport at 8:00 am Thursday morning. Every part of this trip got off to a late start. In Chicago we sat on the the runway for 2 hours waiting for them to de-ice the plane. The plane ride was actually not nearly as bad as I thought. I watched 2 movies, read a book and even snuck in a 5-hour nap thanks to some sleeping pills.
After 19 hours of traveling, we arrived in Shanghai and took the Maglev train to Chrissy’s apartment. After a quick showers and a meal, we left in the snow to go back to the airport.
The Shanghai Airport was jam packed full of people heading home for the upcoming New Year. Our flight was delayed for about 3 hours, so we found a place to take naps and waited. Then once we got on the plane, we waited for another hour or so while they de-iced the plane.
Continue reading Travel Day(s)
Posted in China, Chris Walbert
This entry was posted January 24th, 2008 and has 8 comments.
One week from today I will be departing BWI Airport and, after a brief layover in Chicago, eventually arriving at Shanghai Pudong Airport. Altogether, this trip will encompass approximately 19 hours. For 14.5 of those hours, I will be restricted to a Boeing 777 and unable to do move much more than to walk to and from the restroom.
Luckily, I will have lots of fun toys and other gear with me that should help me survive the flight, as well as fully document my trip.
I am going to make a sincere effort to blog daily during the trip. Hopefully I’ll have lots of great pictures and interesting video to share. If you have any special requests as to what you’d like to see pictures of, what you’d like me to eat, or anything else, just leave a comment.
Here’s a look at the gear I’m taking with me.
Continue reading One Week Until Takeoff
Posted in China, Chris Walbert
This entry was posted January 12th, 2008 and has 5 comments.
If you were at Soul Cannon’s show last night at The Ottobar, it is very hard to argue that statement.
Continue reading Soul Cannon is the Best Band in Baltimore
Posted in Baltimore, Chris Walbert, music
This entry was posted January 2nd, 2008 and has 2 comments.
Every year I say I’m going to buy a new snowboard, and every year I ride the same old Burton I’ve been riding since I was 19. As much as I want to get rid of it, that old board continues to provide me with lots of good times.
This past week I was in the great city of Cumberland, MD visiting my Grandfather as well as my uncle, aunt and cousins. In between dinners and visits to my Grandfather’s new home, I got the chance to sneak in a half-day of snowboarding at Wisp. My cousin Morgan was gracious enough to accompany me and ride with me.
Here are some pictures from the day. As you can see, the only snow at Wisp right now is man made. While there is a decent amount of snow on the slopes, everything else is really muddy and slushy. Regardless, it’s always great to get in some morning runs.
Posted in Chris Walbert
This entry was posted December 27th, 2007 and has 1 comment.
There are days every once in a while when I hear a song and, for whatever reason, that song just fits my day perfectly. I was listening to the new Nada Surf album “Lucky” this morning on my way down to DC, when I was struck by the first track, See These Bones. After listening to the entire album, which is pretty good, I played See These Bones again and ended up listening to it on repeat for the rest of the day.
It’s hard to articulate exactly why this happens or even why I like this song so much. Maybe it’s the guest vocals from Ben Gibbard, or the way the song starts off with kind of a heavy feeling then begins to sound more hopeful and joyous as it builds, before reaching it’s climax with layered vocals singing,
“Do you remember when the light was low?
Do you remember it fell?
Do you remember when we went through her house?
Remember ringing the bell?”
and
“Look alive
See these bones
What you are now
We were once
Just like we are
You will be dust
Just like we are
Permanent”
I really don’t know what it is about this song or why I listened to it so much today, but each time it was finished, I wanted to hear it again.
Continue reading See These Bones
Posted in Chris Walbert, music
