A single grain of rice.....

After seeing many fields of rice harvested, I will never again leave a single grain on my plate! We had the chance to see fields of rice being harvested in Japan, China, and Indonesia.  As we stayed at a home in a rice field in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia, we really got to see how much work it really is, and that was just the harvest!!!

The stalks of rice resemble a stalk of wheat.  In Bali, they were hand cut with a scythe like tool, laid in bundles, and then gathered and hit hard against a wooden, slanted board.  This process caused the individual grains of rice to fall from the stalks, and slide down the board onto a tarp.  From the tarp, someone gathered the grains in a large wicker sieve, and shook to remove the chaff.  This cleaned rice was then put into sacks, which were then carried out on shoulder.  They were big bags of rice, probably at least 25 kg.  Not only is is very labour intensive work, but it was done in very warm temperatures in Bali!!

I'm sure there are farms dedicated to producing rice to the world, and are not done in the traditional methods I just explained, but it was absolutely amazing to see what people did to harvest rice for their families.

When we were staying in Munduk, Bali, we had a guide take us on a walking tour.  Again, this accommodation was located with in the rice fields.  He explained that when he was a child, he came from a very poor family, and he would beg to work in the rice fields, doing the very hard and tiring work.  As this was the main source of work at the time, there was a lot of competition for the work.  He told us now though, nobody wanted to work in the rice fields, and the owners were out begging people to work in the rice fields.  Tourism is now a very big part of Bali.

Our guide also told us, that as a child, they would usually not have enough to eat, so he would be sent out to live on the land.  As we walked through the natural areas surrounding the hotel, we saw banana, papaya, guava, passion fruit, jack fruit, snake fruit, nutmeg, clove, cacao, coffee and avocado trees.  So much was growing in the wild!

Pineapple

Avocado

Cacao

Cacao

Peanuts

Cloves drying

Numbers

My counter tells me we've been travelling for 34 days.  In those 34 days, we have had 2 kids vomit 8 times, 1in the customs line for entering Bali, Indonesia, and 1 on a very crowded metro train in Shanghai, China.  We have also had 5 nosebleeds, again, 2 on very crowded metro trains.  Everyone was very helpful with the nosebleeds; I had 4 packs of kleenex within seconds, and seats were given up for Noah to lie down.
I'm sure we'll have many more to add to this number, but I didn't expect it to add up so soon!!!

Sick little boy taking a nap!

1.36 billion people in China......

....and it felt like they were all out with us as we toured Shanghai!  It was exhausting every single time we left the hotel.  Crowds of people on the sidewalks, packed metro stations, super crowded markets! Everywhere you turned, crowds of people.  It's our fault, we chose to travel in China during National Day, or Golden Week! Seriously, pure craziness!

I'll admit, this soured my view of Shanghai, and I honestly couldn't wait to leave.   The architecture of Shanghai was amazing though!  In the downtown area, there are some amazingly tall buildings, and at night, with the lights on, they were beautiful!

We all noticed a huge difference in cultures between Japan and China.  Even though Tokyo is one of the most densely populated cities, with 38 million residents, they had such respect for one another that everything flowed smoothly and felt quiet.  When we arrived in Shanghai, they people were much louder, a lot pushier, and the environment a lot dirtier.  People rushed onto trains, pushing others out of the way to get a seat--no allowing others to get off before you get on.  It just seemed so chaotic and unacceptable to us to see this!

We were also constantly looked at and stopped, for the 4 boys grabbed a lot of attention! In China, although there has been a slight easing on the 1 child per family policy, we are a strange phenomenon! We couldn't barely stop to take a picture of the boys, for as soon as we did, there were others doing the same.   The boys are fairly tolerable of this, other than Noah, who really doesn't like to be touched by people, so I usually have to rescue him pretty quick!

We left Shanghai through an incredibly crowded train station, and arrived in Beijing to the thick cover of smog.  You couldn't see the tops of buildings and you could taste the pollution in your mouth!  At this point, I really was ready to ask Todd to just get us out of this country!   

But, we stuck it out, a colder weather front approached that night, and cleared the air!  We visited the Great Wall of China, at Mutianyu, and it was amazing! The crowds had died right off, and the wall had almost no one there!  The sky was a clear blue, and the Wall was far more beautiful, rugged, fantastic than we could have imagined!  

So, in the end, I think China will have been worth the visit, and I would recommend it to anyone, but its not a place I would rush to for a relaxing weekend!

Sayōnara Japan...

We are sitting at the airport in Hiroshima, waiting to board our flight to Shanghai, China. One country down, 39 more to go!

Some of the highlights:

1) Toilets!  Being a mom of 4 boys, clean toilets are always a treat!!! Every single bathroom we used, especially the public toilets (even subway stations) was impeccably clean and deluxe! The toilets are all automated, even with warm seats! They offer bidet (female bottom washing option), shower (bottom washing), odour blocking, and sound boost (to keep your own bodily sounds covered!). The boys spent a lot of time figuring things out in the bathroom at the first apartment. You could hear giggles from the bathroom as they turned on the bottom washing option!!!

The boys found this hilarious!!  They wanted to know who would try and use a toilet like that!!!

2) Sushi!  The sushi was always delicious, and so reasonably priced, usually around $1-$2 for 2 pieces. It was a great opportunity for everyone to try new food, and discover new favorites! My favourite ended up being salmon, topped with a thinly sliced onion and drizzled with a mayo type sauce!

Not sushi, but a delicious noodle salad!

3) People!  Everyone was so respectful and courteous to one another. If you asked for help, they were very eager to assist. The boys got a few hugs from random people, but not too many! Everyone bowed to each other, like we would wave.

4) Temples!  So many to see, so little time!!  We made day trips to both Nikko and Kyoto, and they were both fantastic!