Beach Trip

This post was from September 13-15, 2008. The school organized a beach trip for us during the Moon Festival.

Just got back from the Beach Trip. It was a pretty fun time. The first day we boarded a bus and drove for about 4 hours to the beach. Wasn't too bad of a drive. Once we arrived at the coast we checked into our hotel. There was no running water and we had no electricity in our room at first. I ended up sharing a room with my roommate Andrew. The beds were hard as rock (I think it was just a sheet over a piece of plywood) and the pillows felt like they were rice-filled sacks. Not too comfortable. After checking in, we all went to the beach. The water was a little chilly, but that didn't stop Romain and Federico from having a good time. We rented a sand volleyball court and tried to play a game. Not too many people really know how to play so it wasn't a very exciting game.

Later on Andrew and I explored around a bit looking for a place to eat. We ended up eating with everyone else. We had these really nice Mantou Chuan's (grilled pieces of bread with a delicious sauce on them) among other standard things (kungpao chicken, tomato and egg, etc).
Early the next morning we got back on the bus and drove to a port where we boarded a boat that took us to Crescent Moon Island where we would be spending the next night. It was a beautiful little island. We stayed in these Dutch style cottages that stood above the water. Each cottage had just a single bed.

After settling in, we went back to the beach. The water here was much warmer. Most of us went out into the water and played some sort of water volleyball. After leaving the beach we went to this nice little restaurant on the dock and had some pretty delicious steaks. Later that night we went back to the beach to chill and watch the ocean. It was a really nice view. I also had a nice chance to really get to know Wieteke (Holland). She's pretty cool.

Early the next morning, I got up and went on my own to explore the island a bit. It was a beautiful island. I had a nice walk through nature. On the way back, I passed through this beautiful flower garden and got some nice photos. After having lunch back at that restaurant with the steaks we got back on the boat to head back to the bus and then back to Beijing.