Monday, June 21, 2010

Ni Hao, Daddy! - Part 3

Wade made another trip to Asia this month for work. If you are counting, this is his 3rd trip there in the last year. I am so proud of how hard he has worked to get business from his accounts there. He has poured hours and hours into researching the cultures and how business works in China and Japan. He puts his heart into his job and loves what he does. He has such a great work ethic!

For this trip, his boss, Tony, went with him (as well as their interpreter). Wade & Tony have grown to be very good friends, so I think that Wade enjoyed having Tony with him for this trip. They worked very hard and had some very promising meetings. They also were able to squeeze in some fun touristy things over the weekends. They started out in Nagoya, then went to Tokyo, then Kyoto, then Beijing, then back to Nagoya. He was gone for 15 days - June 2nd through June 17th.

I have given up on getting Wade to guest post on the blog. It's just not his thing, I guess. But, I really want for his trips to be documented. So... I'm going to attempt (yet again), to retell his travels through pictures. :)

Tokyo

Tokyo at Night

Eating at a restaurant where you grilled your food at the table

The Tsukiji Fish Market

Wade said that this fish was about 6 feet long. Check out that knife that they are using to hack into it. Pretty impressive.

Part of that fish became their lunch. Can't get much fresher sushi than that. :)

They went to the Toshogu Shrine in Tokyo. These were all pieces of wood that people had written prayers on.

A 5 story pagoda




Kyoto
Kinkaku-ji (Temple of the Golden Pavilion)
The top two levels are covered in pure gold leaf.


Some cool lanterns in Kyoto


Beijing
Wade and his boss, Tony, at a canal in Beijing

Wade said that buildings like this were everywhere.
Each individual tile is hand-painted, and they even cover the ceilings.


Beijing
At a restaurant in Beijing


Tiananmen Gate ("the Gate of Heavenly Peace") into the Forbidden City

The Zhengyangmen Gatehouse

The Mausoleum of Mao Zedong - Mao Zedong was a Chairman of the communist party in China. He died in 1976. He was embalmed and put in a crystal coffin where you can still view his body today.


Beijing - Summer Palace
Summer Palace in Beijing

The Archway - looking onto the East Palace Gate and with The Tower of the Fragrance of Buddha in the distance

Wade was determined to hike up to the Tower of the Fragrance of Buddha,

and he made it. :)


Beijing - The Great Wall

Wade at the Great Wall



Wade & Tony at the Great Wall


Whenever Wade goes to China, he buys the kids toys at the little markets there. I tease him that it is "Chinese Christmas" whenever he gets home. Clayton is always chomping at the bit to see what Wade brought back.

I have come to think that Wade has some sort of personal vendetta against me, though. It's like he's desperately trying (and nearly succeeding) to drive me to the brink of insanity. He chooses the loudest, most obnoxious toys possible! The kids love them, but they drive me crazy. I may have even removed the batteries in a few of them and claimed that they were "broken." ;)

To give you an idea, these are the toys from this trip:




There is also a whale that sings in Chinese (loudly, I might add!) and a dog that has an awful yappy bark non-stop. Those two were "broken" at the time of filming. Ha!

We are soooo glad that our Daddy is back and we are all under one roof!!!

5 comments:

Matt and Cindy Fleharty said...

Looove seeing pics from Wade's trips! The toys are awesome....as long as they are at YOUR house! Too bad Wade won't start a travel food blog...what was the name we thought of again? Oh yeah, better not post it on here :)

Leah said...

Wow, what an amazing trip! Those are really good pics...I didn't know he got to see the Great Wall. It is so incredible the places he gets to travel for work.

Chinese Christmas...that cracks me up! So true! Good for the boys...you know they love it!

Glad Wade is back home, safe and sound too!

Gran said...

What fantastic pictures, Wade. Glad you are home, especially for anniversary #10.

Leslie said...

That video is hysterical! You poor thing...those would quickly get "broken" at my house, too! Glad everyone is back safely!

...traci said...

ok, i'm officially jealous! next time you go, let me know...maybe i'll plan a trip in the same direction. oh, i have an idea! let's ALL go!!! yeah, that'd be fun!