In the end, we are all traveling solo

It was a long story. 

I met 2 Koreans and 1 Japanese friends in Moscow. We became good friends instantly and had a very good time and in touch even after we split from Moscow.

The Korean boy and girl were good friends but not a couple. They headed to Eastern Europe and I joined the Japanese girl again in Iceland.

The Korean boy was very outgoing and funny and the girl was not very adventurous and spoke no English. It seems that every decision was made by the boy (which Korean men were very pleased to) and the girl just followed. They knew each other very well but no romantic relationship in between.

Days after we heard from them they separated and the girl was traveling alone by herself. We were surprised because the girl knew no English and it was the first time she was abroad. She was always very nice to him but don't know why she suddenly left him. We thought at some point even good friends may not want to be together all the time...

I had been traveling with other girls (girly and not girly) but it did not work out very well. Maybe its just me who are not compatible enough. I prefer meeting people and explore off the beaten track but they may fancy seeing some famous sights and less keen to meet new people. But one thing for sure we felt better when we can go independently whenever we wanted. 

The time with the Japanese girl was great. We cooked together and came up with new ideas each other day. We met new people and had an incredible road trip around Iceland with 2 Eastern European guys. She was fearless (and careless), flexible and willing to try new things. We planned our next trips together and I thought we would travel together for the rest of our journeys.

But no one is perfectly compatible. I'm afraid traveling with someone is more dangerous than being in a relationship...at least for me. The other day she found 2 Japanese guys and we went on a another road trip together. They had no plans, indecisive and dependent. They talked only in Japanese and I could just follow. I was more pleased to be just silent and watch the window and think and go wherever they took me. But too many stupid things happened and I decided better not to go with them the next day. I was never a fan of Japan and I am sorry this made me even more negative...

So I am traveling solo again. But somehow this helped me decide to visit my friends in Germany instead.

Things and people in Beijing

Too much happened in the week in Beijing. I have just been to the Forbidden City, the Great Wall and Temple of Heaven and those are simply too touristy to enjoy. What made it remarkable, was the people.

Girl in the middle of a plastic surgery
The other night I met a girl having a plastic surgery in my hostel. We were staying in the same room. At the beginning I thought she was having an accident or something but I did not ask. Yet she was pretty open about it and told me she was having a surgery for slimming the face and deepening eyelids (I don't know what it is called). Brave.

New North Korean best friend
North Koreans are much more open to the world than I have expected. Or perhaps it is just those I met. Of course they are the special ones as the father is a diplomat in China and his 16-year-old kid was very well built than our average size. They speak fluent Chinese and some English and open to talk about their country. And the kid, which is my friend now, knows very well about international issues but just from different perspectives as we do. We cannot judge who is right or wrong. And he can watch whatever Hollywood movies and never thought his right is restricted. He reminds me of the book "Nothing to envy". When some of us are getting aware of the negatives brought by capitalism, can we say socialism is necessarily a bad thing? At least I don't see it from my friend's point of view. One thing different is that North Koreans are very conservative. They do not allow women to drink alcohol so he kept pouring mine. We went for a picnic and played ukulele at the gate, trying to see if anybody would throw in some money, and he thought it is a shame and stopped us doing it. We may think he is crazy and so did he. Overall he is a fun and normal kid, we are all humans beings.

An unexpected morning in the Chinese police station
I was about to get breakfast in the morning and saw some men in uniforms taking videos and asking questions in the reception. I was curious and stopped for a bit and then I was asked to show my ID card. I was so surprised that he kept our cards with no intention of giving us back! Then I was bound to wait until he got a couple others staying at the hostel to the police station. Everyone was confused and had no idea what was happening. I was half excited but for a moment I remembered cases like fake policemen or dying accidentally in the police stations. Who knows what could happen. At the station we waited one by one to have our records on paper. One of the police looked very serious about me being a Hong Kong citizen staying at this unlicensed hostel. He said it was illegal and I would get into trouble.
I was taken to a small room with a computer, a single bed and an underwear hanging at the corner. Probably they sleep here. Then I was asked to the very detail of what happened at the day I arrived the hostel, what the girl at the reception was wearing, her height and weight, how I did the transaction, my political background (I suppose this is important) etc. it took around half an hour to finish. And I had my fingerprints and signatures on each page of the records. The police were nice though. They told me to check out immediately so I moved to another legal place to stay in the end.

Discussion with the communist youths
I met a Chinese girl in a Hutong on the way I looked for my illegal hostel. The other night she came to visit with her friends and we had a great night discussing the difference between HK and China. One of them is a member of the communist party but he was open to different ideas.