philippine idol

yesterday, our family checked out SM mall of asia. the number of people moving around the mall was astounding! the staggering number of people created a sea of anonymity. eventhough each person is unique, the sheer number made everyone appear like a blank face.

i should have guessed... crowds flocked the mall because of celebrities. ASAP was scheduled to take place at SM that noon. we didn't even bother going at the activity center to watch scantily-clad back-up dancers grind their romp on stage and untalented matinee idols trying to sing and dance (and look stupid).

i'm sick and tired of this kind of show espceially those lacking sense. all they do is sensualize what is "IN", overplay and abuse "disposable stars" from reality shows and tv contests. almost weekly, ASAP guests famous bands and artists to sing the same song over and over again. this is nothing but network rivals having a piss-contest on who owns majority viewership. eat bulaga, wowowee, trash... SHIT!

sam milby also had his album signing and i was not surprised by the number of fanatics screaming their tonsils off, dying to have a glance at mr. wherever you will go.

we had lunch at a shabu-shabu restaurant. the food was good as well as it is healty. no oil, we just poach the food on chicken broth. at the restaurant, my dad recognized an old man, around 85, sitting on the wait-to-be-seated chair. "dol, si senator salonga yun o!" my dad was really excited because he idlolizes the bar top-notcher who ran for presidency on the 1992 elections. he was one of the politicians victimed by the infamous plaza miranda bombing. he almost died on that day but was lucky enought to just lose his hearing and vision on his right side. how come this famous personality opted to wait in line?

my dad could no longer contain his excitement. he approached mr salonga and asked to greet him. "i'm glad i finally met you. i idolize you!" i followed my father bringing his n91. mr salonga noticing the camera-phone i was holding told my dad "how about a picture of us together?" my dad was more than happy to oblige. but we were really surprised when he asked my fater, "how about a picture of me with your son?" we were left in awe. how could he be so humble?

on that day, none of the thousands who flocked SM recognized or if they do, bothered to greet mr. salonga. they were all busy oogling on their so-called-stars. drooling over the sexy stars, the non-sense comedians, the hopeless singers. me and my father were the lucky ones.

after that incident, i had no other reaction but praises to the old politician. i hope there would be more politicians like him in the future. wise, brave and humble.

a philippine idol

baby steps

mark this day.

today, we finally made progress in our thesis. this morning, ram and i started constructing the platform for the mobot ("mobile robot" for non-engineers). there was nothing complicated really, just plywood, gauge 26 metal sheet, caster wheel, motor and screws.

at around 1130, ram left for his family reunion.. SO HE CLAIMS! LOL! he also gave me his eaf (enrolment assessment form) and a check to pay for his tuition.

edward arrived at our house at around 12 noon. our target is to have our documents signed by the department chair and the thesis coordinator. we were almost above the zapote flyover when i realized that ram's eaf wasn't with me! &*%#!(*

"mama, para lang po sa tabi, may naiwan ako"

the conductor irritably scratched his head and opened the door. realizing that i'm in the middle of the streeta and almost halfway above the ramp of the flyover, i sprinted to the sidewalk. the air was arid, the sun was shinning down on me with his rays scorching my flesh like a delicate oninon in a shawarma machine. 1 km later, i'm inside a comfy bus seated with the usual passengers, roaches and mosquitoes.

having the docus signed didn't take us long. edward left for his dentist appointment, SO HE CLAIMS! LOL! as edward was walking away from me, anton arrived. our target, learn data transmission from doc D and ask the thesis coordinator if we could use the robotics room for our thesis. our first stop is the computer lab. we listed the components we need to order from the internet. anton also shared to me his research regarding the robot's sensors. satisfactory!

we then headed to doc D's office where we had this 5-minute consultation (he IS a busy man). the good thing is he delegated the Q&A session to the students in the room, doc D's apprentices if you may call them. we managed to squeeze-out quite a number of invaluable information from them. WHOOPEEDOO!

a small step for thesis, a big step for mankind!

too tired to continue

i'm too tired to continue the previous post. i also lost the momentum to write it.

i'm here in school trying to be productive, searching for parts (of my robot) in the internet. damn, everything is so expensive! i didn't realize that i need to shell out 10 grand for a two way tranciever unit! sonars costs 1.5k per set, 2 motors at 2k@ and a digital compass at 2.5k!

a taste of sand

finally! just before our first day of school, i had a chance to go to a somewhere i could cool my tired self down.

last saturday, i went to puerto gallera with my kraft friends and our significant others. we did not choose to stay at white beach because we knew that it would be teeming with people. more people means more temptation. ahahaha! we booked our stay at tanawin bay resort in muelle. about 10 mins away from white beach.

i was kindda curious about this resort so i googled it...

“an exotic taste of luxury” Triple A De Luxe Resort
accredited by Department Of Tourism
WE ARE THE NO. 1 HONEYMOON RESORT
IN PUERTO GALERA PHILIPPINES!
http://www.tanawinbayresort.com/

asteeeg! it has it's own website. haha! overnight rates are quite cheap, 800 pax. not bad for a resort that has a private beach, swimming pool, fine dining restaurant and other outdoor facilities (so it says.. haha!)

meeting place: kraft
meeting time: 3am

ok, so chai and i arrived kraft on time, so did jen and bri. jing and cocoy was on their way. meann (who was still in kraft up to midnight), still asleep! jing and cocoy in their starex van arrived at 330. we decided to give meann her time and headed first to SEX to have breakfast.

batangas port: 720am

a delay in departure time and a a passenger tug-o-war.

we almost sailed on a boat heading to a different port because of the ship dudes. it would be very interesting blog entry when we failed to confirm the route to the captain. HAHAHA!

muelle port: 930am

tanawin bay resort was just a 4-minute trike ride uphill. i gotta sit on the back of the trike, bumping my butt on the "plush metal seat". a realy bumpy ride. the trike stopped at an entrance at the base of a mountain.

"where the heck are we?! aren't we supposed to be on a beach resort?"
"ser, wala pung beach dito, sa white beach pa po kayo pupunta."
"WTF?!?!"

we started pointing fingers on who planned the trip. meann almost blew her fuse.
"tara na nga!"
then we hiked the winding path to the top of the mountain.

upon entering the resort, tides turned the other way around. we like, owned the whole resort! very lucky! and we aso got an upgrade in lodging. ate vangie gave us the biggest villa in the resort ironically called "the snail room". and indeed, there is a private beach on the other side of the mountain! WHEW!

...to be continued

quotable quote

it pays to be early...

unless you're a worm

dank and balmy but what the heck!

at least it's not raining anymore.

i'm leaving now. gotta buy parts for the electronic component of our robot. someone's gotta do it or else, it's another term delay.

i'm dropping-by sm too to buy ingredients for my ever-so-famous lasagna. hmm... also a gift to my lovable tita who would be turning 59 tomorrow.

first rain of may

it's may and it's raining.

it's just too early. i haven't gone to a beach, not even a swimming pool.

this rain has ruined my plans for the day. it should have been a productive day for thesis. haaaaay.....

now i'm stuck here at home playing suikoden v.

i hope the sky would clear this afternoon.

China Journals 8: A Trip to China Without Lumpia and Pancit

Sunday; April 30, 2006

• Pechay farewell
• $45 meal and 3km dash
• Sa wakas, mga FALAPINOE!

Bitter aftertaste of booze, body aching from the contortionist’s sleeping position and still high from the laugh-trip ala-SIYAM-SIYAM. I shouldn’t have chugged-down Liquor number 2. Haaaayyyy… This is how I woke-up on my last day in China. DAMN! 5am is too early!

Today’s activity: ferry ride to Hong Kong then flight back to the Philippines.

At the Shenzhen’s seaport, we bade farewell to each other and took pictures on the process. I still couldn’t believe that the 8 days trip to China was over. Time sure flies especially when you are enjoying every moment of it. Choosing to sleep 2 hours a day is a hint. Saying goodbye is not a big deal… when bonds isn’t strong. Our group had a good relationship maybe because we were divided by mainly two age ranges. Our parents are all aged 50 ±5years. Our young group ranged from 16 to 23. Aside from the age range, most of us shared common interests, same schools, same friends. We also came to China enjoying pechay and left loathing it. HEHE!

Our group almost got separated at the airport. Eight of us were still on the boarding area when the ferry started to move. I dunno what the reason was but we all managed to board the ship. It was a short 40 minute cruise. We landed at the Hong Kong Seaport which was located at the same area of the airport.

Hong Kong International Airport is gargantuan! It is the biggest thing I ever saw. It is so immense, it has its own train station that transport passengers from terminal to terminal. It has a shopping center INSIDE as large as most of the malls we have here. We were waiting at terminal 45 when I got hungry. I asked my mum for money. She gave me $2 US and $30 HK. Carlo and Lora, my sibs, accompanied me to buy snacks. We thought that the snack bar was just near but to get there, we took 10 walkalators, 5 escalators, countless aisles, a total of 20 minutes. Finally, we reached the snack bar. EGAD! One meal costs more than 30 bucks?! SHIT! We went there for nothing? It couldn’t be. I searched my wallet for remaining change and I was lucky enough to find a $20 HK bill. (Note: I got this bill from Herbert’s (a thesis mate) last trip to HK. THANKS HERBERT!)

On the way back to the terminal, we rode a train. This chopped down our travel time by 10 minutes. We arrived there just in time. The plane was boarding. CEBU PACIFIC. At last, stewardess I could actually talk to!

2 hour later…

FAREWELL PECHAY! It's funny how we stayed in Shanghai without tasting lumpia, Cantonese Shenzhen without pansit and siomai, Beijing without fetus and Panda meat. LOL

China Journals 7: Shanghai Passing

Saturday; April 29, 2006

• Ultimate combination
• Shop ‘til you drop
• Peking duck at last!
• Slumber party: ghost stories part 2

Wake-up call: 430am. Breakfast: 1pc egg, 2pcs bread, 1 pack milk to go.

Oh my head! 2 hours of sleep for the third consecutive day. This trip is killing me! The only reason why we returned to Shanghai it to retrieve our luggage left at the hotel. We were scheduled to depart at 630, another 2 hour plane ride to Shenzhen.

At Shenzhen we were led by Ting (who surprisingly changed her attire unlike most of the tour guides we had) to a pearl farm. After the pearl farm, we went to a snack factory. This is the reason why China is booming today. They all squeeze-out every money from their tourists! Everywhere we go, everyday, there’s a trip to a government-owned establishment where we were sold local products.

Day 1 = jade, tea

Day 2 = silk, tea, herbal medicine

Day 3 = cloisonné, jade

Day 4 = tomb souvenirs, silk, tea

Day 5 = terracotta warriors, calligraphy

Day 6 = panda stuff

Day 7 = pearls, jewelries, silk, cookies, jade, cloisonné

Each one of the merchants were trained to be very persistent. All of them give prices that are 1000% higher than their last price. They will pull you if you try to leave. Don’t even try to haggle if you wouldn’t by it.

After lunch, we were given 2 hours at the Shenzhen’s shopping square. (yup, more money going out of our pockets) Too bad my remaining 250 Yuan didn’t last as long. I spent most of the time following Lora around and spotting outrageously-dressed chicks. It was almost like Japan there (at least how I pictured Japan would be).

We had dinner shortly after gathering. It was just a 5 minute walk from the shopping center, then it was back to the hotel for us. ‘Twas the last night we’ll spend outside the Philippines. Our group decided to have a slumber party. We went outside to buy some food and booze. Almost got lost on the way back to the hotel, we passed backstreets and small alleys and saw interesting stuff. We passed-by a store that sold different kinds of creepy crawlies; slugs, fungi, worms, leeches, name it. If it’s crawling, they have it! Back in the hotel, we chose Jam’s place to be the venue of the slumber party. We took the bed cushion from my room and laid it on the floor. All 8 of us sat on the two beds on the floor playing different card games. This time loser get to drink the 3 mystery liquors:

1. Green Rice Wine = 58% alcohol = di lang pampamilya, pang-isports pa!
2. Wine in clay jar = 46% alcohol = amoy laquer, lasang laquer
3. Wine in bottle with two guys laughing = 38% alcohol = so strong, mababaliw ka

We mixed them with Sprite and Coke. We started with the most potent booze. Liquor number 1 and Sprite was the bestseller. Liquor number 2 and Coke was scary (it smelled funny). Only the boys (and JAM) got to drink it. I enjoyed every drop of it! We were too light-headed to even start with Liquor number 3.

Ahh, the games. Lucky 9. Dane proved that he sucked at this game by almost monopolizing the first pitcher of liquor. Francis and Mark didn’t want Dane to hog the booze so they deliberately had their hands lose. For the ladies, Jam. PERIOD! It was very fun. I would love to share every detail of the night here but unfortunately, I had too much to drink. HIC! As we all lie on the same bed, we played another game. It was a DUGTUNGAN game. Each one gives a word and the person to his/her right gives another word to make a story. It was sooooo hilarious! (HELP ME WITH THIS GUYS. ANO YUNG NAGAWA NATING STORY? YUNG BUO!)

The night wouldn’t be complete without the ghost stories. Each one shared his/her personal spooky experiences. Really creepy! It took us hellofalotoftime before we shook-off the fear. Zzz… Zzz…

China Journals 6: Sleepless in China

Friday; April 28, 2006

• Panda crap
• Farewell Coach
• Lucky-Me
• Uber-delay at Beijing Airport
• Droz Dropped-Dead

Wake-up call: 530am. Flight to Beijing: 720am. Still sleepless thanks to Jam and Jane, we boarded the plane back to Beijing. (syempre after the usual breakfast meal) Upon arriving at Beijing International Airport, we saw Frank. Still dressed like a coach, he was wearing the same jacket, pants and shoes he wore three days ago. I sure hope he changed his underwear (or at least used SIDE B). He was still waving a bottle of mineral water to catch our attention. Uniform maybe?

This day’s “itenary”: Panda Zoo, Summer Palace. Our group decided to skip the Summer Palace for some rest (Or maybe because we have to pay 80 Yuan per person to enter. That was roughly 640 pesos) Panda Zoo was a disappointment. We drove for more than an hour to see three tiny pandas eating bamboo. I thought it would be a big zoo with other animals but what we saw was everything they have. BULLSHIT! I should have stayed in the bus to recharge a bit. After that, it was lunch already. I don’t have to tell you guys what we ate, it’s already a give-away.

Just to wipe off the disappointment from our faces, Frank brought us to another shopping center to kill 90 minutes. I chose to have a stroll instead of going in the mall because I’m saving up for Shenzhen, the shopper’s paradise according to Ting. I saw several people playing cards on the alley. I tried to figure out whet they were playing to no avail. Suddenly, a police appeared going towards our direction. DAMN! BUSTED! Funny, he suddenly brought out money and placed a bet on the banker side! WHEW! I’m getting out of here. I saw a group of people gathering around a newspaper stand. They were reading magazines. Well, it looks free so I grabbed a magazine myself. After browsing though the English magazines on the newspaper stand, I returned to the bus. Shortly after, they all retuned too. To the airport we go!

We heard from the PA that our flight will be delayed for 30-60 minutes. Luckily, we brought some playing cards. We played Lucky 9. Lose 3 games, you do a consequence. First victim Dane. We asked him to introduce himself to a local (with handshake) and ask for his/her name. Lora followed suit doing jumping jacks 5 times while shouting out Japanese cadence. Dane struck twice with a pump and grind dance number to the tune of careless whisper. Mark humped the post screaming “get, get awwwww!”. Strike three for Dane (forgot what he did). Lora catching up with another “getting to know you”. Lastly, Jane and Jam did Otcho-otcho and Ispaghetti simultaneously. “OOPS, the plane is here! YEHEY!” They weren’t as happy as I am though, frustrated I didn’t get to do a consequence. They vowed revenge in the future.

The following paragraph contains language not suitable for very young readers:

Aboard the plane, the captain told us that the flight will be delayed AGAIN. This time because there was a military practice taking place. PUTANG INA! Why now?! I’m dying to have my rest at the plush Shanghai Hotel! Just when you thought that nothing worse could happen, the cabin’s power went out. BULLSHIT TALAGA! It was soooooo hot and dark. We were all very hungry. Sitting around me were people who look Iraqi, Pakistani. Nothing personal but PUTA that was really scary! This was scarier, I was seated next to a gay Indian who was trying to talk to me! He looked rich but PLEEEASSE! Time was moving at a snail’s pace. We stayed there for more than three hours. YEP, PUTANG INA TALAGA!

We arrived Shanghai Airport at around 1am. My God! Allan was still wearing the same brown collared shirt 5 days ago! Was it that cold to not take a bath?! Ok, ok, Maybe that was also a uniform. Julie at least changed attire but maybe we were just lucky enough to witness her 30-day change-over.

An hour drive to the hotel followed. DROZ-DROPPED-DEAD! 240am

China Journals 5: Indecent Exposure

Thursday; April 27, 2006

• Meet Julie, the Dominatrix
• Terracotta Warriors in iPOD
• Farmer Yang and the paparazzi
• Bell and drum tower
• Night Stroll
• Lotus feet

What really woke us up was the fact that the Chinese guy was undressing! He was changing his jammies in front of us! Something I saw made me wanna laugh even harder. He was wearing silk stockings! Hahahahaha! I dunno, maybe that’s perfectly fine in China.

As we get off the train (after doing some stretching exercise myself) we were welcomed by a smartly-dressed woman in her early thirties. She was dressed ala-anime teacher complete with glasses and snooty facial expressions. I thought this kind of person only exist in cartoons or Japan. Her name is Julia. She said it was her pre-school teacher who gave her that name. In China, if your parents did not give you a western name, your teacher will give it to you. This is why most western names given to Chinese are very common or sound old. Names like Frank, Allan, Tina, Joe, Mike, Johnny, Maggie to mention a few. The same thing goes here in the Philippines. My Chinese friends told me that their teachers also give them their CHINESE NAMES. Cool! What if you don’t like the sound of the name given to you by your teacher? (mas lalo na kung malakas yung trip ng prof mo) HAHAHA! Poor kid.

Julie led us first to a Terracotta Warrior souvenir shop. This is where we were briefed the history of the great archaeological find. One balmy morning, a farmer named Yang was digging a well for irrigation. He wanted to dig his well quite deeper than the usual when he struck something hard. He unearthed a figure of a man in an armor. Little did he know that what he uncovered would be one of the greatest heritage China has left for us to see.

The Terracotta Warriors Pit is considered as the 8^th Wonder of the World. Speaking of wonder of the world, doesn’t that title supposed to be for the Ifugao Rice Terraces, the Great Wall of China, Eiffel Tower, leaning Tower of Piza? SHIT! This is very confusing! My conclusion is every country has its own 8^th Wonder. Ego booster maybe? ( check this: http://wonderclub.com/AllWorldWonders.html )

After the short trip to the shop, it’s time to see the real thing. It took us another 1 hour drive to get there. There are three main pits of excavated terracotta warriors. This only meant one thing, WALK, WALK and WALK! It really wasn’t THAT impressive, the fact that each of the thousands of figures was unique (having different armors, facial expressions and features) and was actually replicas of the emperor’s loyal servants. After the draining march for history, we entered a 360 degrees viewing room. WHOOOPEEDOO! Terracotta warriors everywhere!

Lunch followed with extra tasty “THE USUAL”. We also had this sidetrip to an old community flea market. I got to try different street foods (don’t worry guys, I’m still alive). They were really tasty, and oily. From here, it was another walkathon. DONE!

We headed straight to the hotel after that for some well-needed rest. We were told by Julie to go to the city square at around 8pm. She said we could watch the biggest fountain show in Asia. Getting there wasn’t very easy. Yup, you guessed it right, another 2km hike from the hotel! Dane and I almost got lost getting there if it wasn’t for the loud speakers and the fireworks. IT WAS AWESOME! Too bad it only lasted for 30 minutes. After that, we had a taste of KFC in China. Side dishes are corn-in-a-cob and veggies. Their chicken burger has mixed veggies as filling! The Zinger was twice as potent as what we have here. Surprisingly, there were no complains that came out from our mouths. At least it’s almost western and doesn’t contain PECHAY!

After eating, the oldies and the young ’ems returned to the hotel. The cool and hip group of Francis, Dane, Jane, Jam and Droz opted to stay there for a stroll. Xian at night is cool as it is COLD. We saw Xian kids in Mohawk, blonde hair, studded jackets, rollerblades and who would forget those adorable bubble makers. We also saw opera singers, tattoo artists, accordion players, get-a-room couples and the other guys we see in Baywalk. (I’m starting to miss the Philippines) It got a lot colder so we finally returned to the hotel.

At the hotel, we stayed at Jane and Jam’s room to play cards. Dane was the perennial loser. Hahah! Feng Shui wasn’t by his side that night. OK, stop the cards, let’s have some good ‘ol Chinese ghost stories. What better story to tell than Kris Aquino and Lotus Feet! GOOD NIGHT.

China Journals 4: I Follow the Water

Wednesday; April 26, 2006

• Tianan Mien Square
• No Mao?
• Forbidden City
• The Ming Tombs
• 14 hrs at the train

Wake-up call: 730am. Breakfast: Let’s just call it “THE USUAL”

This day’s itinerary was jam-packed. What I was feeling this day was fear. Tianan Mien Square; two years ago, a multitude of Japanese people were killed on this very square by an angry Chinese mob. This was an act of retribution for the millions of Chinese killed by the Kamikazes during the Second World War. Some of the casualties were not Japanese at all, they just looked like one. My mom told me that she knew a certain person from Ayala Alabang that was not spared form this incident. He was a pure Filipino, make that a very rich Filipino who went to China on a relaxation tour. This gave me the heebie-jeebies because I may also be mistaken as a Japanese! I don’t wanna return to the Philippines in a body bag. NEVER.

A lot has happened on this historical square, so historic, I don’t know what they were! HAHA! Well I just know that this is where Mao Zedong stood. He have pictures anywhere you look. He was the biggest thing China has ever had before Yao Ming. Too bad, the queue on his tomb was so long, it stretched across the immense square. My dad was really disappointed. NO MAO for him. I would also like to know whether Tianan Mien Square was really the name of the place ‘cuz maybe the Chinese people only mispronounced “CHINA MAIN SQUARE”. Come to think of it…

A few snapshots later, we headed to the ever-so-famous Forbidden City. What makes this trip very memorable is the irony. Entering the Forbidden City is like breaking a taboo. Back in the olden days, only the emperor and a few chosen men and his three thousand hot concubines may enter that city. The city has 9999 and a half rooms. Don’t ask me where that ½ room came from ‘cuz up to now, no one has given me a decent answer. No thanks to you Frank. The only answer he gave me that if the Emperor would live a day each in one of those rooms, he’ll be 27 years old when he finishes it. The coolest thing about being an emperor in this dynasty is the fact that you have 3000 concubines to choose from everyday aside from your wife, the empress. Imagine what kind of orgy took place at the center hall of the palace. How many daisy chain links were made? Even Peter North would be jealous of him. LUCKY BASTARD!

Ok, forget about that Droz, it must be hunger. After “THE USUAL” lunch, it was straight to the Ming Tombs. Ming Tombs, Forbidden City, it all looked the same to me. For me, it’s just another 2 kilometer hike to fatigue.

It’s 3 in the afternoon an we’re running out of time. Our 14-hour train ride to Xian is about o depart. We darted to the station carrying our luggage of around 20 kilos each running most of the 1.5 kilometer hall. The station was literally overflowing with people. Men of different statures, different lifestyles, mostly traders, all chose to ride the train. Aboard the train, we were assigned to a room. There are 4 persons in a cabin with 2 double decks each. There was no door, not even a curtain to cover the cabin. In my room were sisters Jane and Jam and an old Chinese guy. We desperately tried to communicate with him but it was very hard. We managed though to squeeze some information from him.

Name: Lei

Age: 50

Notes: He has children the same age as us and he returns to Xian to visit his family. We fondly call him Hua Che Lei.

At first, I thought that 14 hours was gonna be a long ride but chit-chats with J&J sure made it seem like 2 hours. Our topic varied from Judas’ vindication to ghosts, God’s existence to bifidus. We had a lot of common interests but quite different points of view in life. I don’t pray, they do. But they also believe that what I am doing (or not doing) is not wrong. They pray “just-in-case”. I just happen to be braver, more secure on my faith and fate. We were very surprised when Jam looked at her watch and told us that it’s already 3 in the morning. We were quite noisy it kept Hua Che Lei half awake the whole night.

Revenge! That Lei woke up at 5 in the morning and started to do some stretching exercise. IT WAS SOOOOO FUNNY!

2 hours of sleep isn’t so bad. Total Damage: three-inch eyebags

China Journals 3: Conquering the Great Wall

Tuesday; April 25, 2006

• Jade Factory
• Appreciating calzone, err… cloisonné
• Hero
• Not again?!

Wake-up call: 7am. Breakfast: dimsum, hot soy milk, oily noodles, stuff that looked like French fries but doesn’t taste like one (reminds me of boldstar’s pork siomai song which goes like this: yesterday I had siomai, man it tastes like leche flan, but it’s not it’s pork siomai!) Last night, my bedside phone rang. It was room service, the Chinese girl desperately tried to ask me if I wanted to have a body MESSAGEE. That offer really was tempting, what kind of massage could the motel offer? Haha! Just thinking.

After doing the morning rituals, Frank made his routine roll-call before we boarded the bus. “Today, we will be going to the Great Wall of China, a wonder of the world”. Before we could reach the site, we made a few stopovers. Beijing by the way is a very huge city. It is more than 170 kilometers from east to west and around 150 kilometers north to south. Judging from the infrastructures and other establishments in Beijing, it is much like Manila.

The first of the stopovers is a jade refining factory. Nothing much to see there, only the process of shaping and polishing jade stones. As usual, the trip wouldn’t be complete without the hordes of salesladies peddling jade. The best thing I saw in there was an authentic Scottish dude with kilt and all (minus the bagpipes). Next stop please.

“This time, we will go to the calzone factory” What the hell was that?! I thought calzones originated from Italy? Are we gonna get free taste? I could now imagine, seaweed calzone with pancit bits, fetus calzone, SICK! I read the sign in front of the factory and it said “CLOISONNE” WHEW!

Inside was a display of porcelain, so we think. It was actually made of copper and mineral enamel baked and polished. MAN! The process was really tedious and required tons of patience. It goes like this: 1. The coppersmith forms the copper sheets into vases, after soldering them to pieces, 2. Female workers stick copper wires on the surface to form patterns like dragon scales, panda fur and the like. 3. Powdered minerals are filled into the pattern using medicine dropper (think color by numbers) 4. The vase is baked on a furnace reaching 900 degrees. 5. After baking it is polished using charcoal, leather and rhinestone. Once you see how it is made, you’ll appreciate it even more.

At last, the time has come, Droz, meet the Great Wall. Before the day ends, you will conquer it and become a HERO. Tradition says that once you claimed the great wall, you’ll become a hero. I dunno what that means but I wanna achieve that feat. Gloves? Check. Shades? Check. Camera? Check. Cold water? Check! Wait, let’s just leave that in the bus. It’s too dang cold! Slopes of more than 70 degrees, no decent handrails, more than two kilometers hike to the top. An hour and a half later, almost out of breath, I achieved my target. I’m officially a hero. But do you know what spoiled the feat? At the peak of the wall, there’s this souvenir shop and a photographer for hire. What made me feel more insecure is the fact that the lady photographer shuttles up and down the wall to have the pictures printed! SHIT! She does that around 50 times a day depending on the number of customers. For 50 Yuan per picture (400 pesos), the climb was worth it!

The day wouldn’t be complete without pechay. We still had pechay for dinner. BLECH!

China Journals 2: No Lumpia?!

Monday; April 24, 2006

• No food stub?!
• Kung-fu
• Doctor, doctor I am sick?
• Underground activity, something fishy
• To Beijing we will go
• The Coach

Wake-up call: 7am. OH MY GOD! I lost my meal ticket! Good thing that the Chinese family we're with (Pander and her 2 sons) convinced the waitress to give us our breakfast. For breakfast we had 4 different kinds of siopao, hard-boiled eggs, hot orange juice, tea and bland coffee and I almost forgot, pechay. Allan has the day planned, it was a city tour. Shanghai by the way is the central business district of China, much like Makati. Almost every building there was taller than the tallest building here in our country. Each one was an architectural masterpiece. All unique, some queer. LOL.

On one of the parks there, we had a grand picture taking. The place was very nice. They call it a French-inspired park. Me and my sis had a great time doing jumping poses and matrix-inspired shots. After consuming much of my 1GB camera’s memory, we went to this wellness center to have our free foot spa. YEY! It was actually another sales talk in disguise. After we got a refresher course on herbal medicine and other Chinese medical methods, we were again urged, coerced to buy their product. This was done after the resident doctor read our pulse and sublimely told us that we’re gonna die if we don’t buy their product. BRRRR…

We had lunch after that with the same menu. This time minus one pechay dish but plus another onion viand. We went to an underground market following the vegetarian lunch. Nothing much to see there. Rolex watches selling for 8 pieces per 100 RMB. We had dinner 3 hours after we had lunch. Nothing new, pechay and meatballs again. After that it’s straight to the airport.

At Beijing, a tall athletic guy (judging by the way he dress: sports jacket, jogging pants and rubber shoes with matching bottle of mineral water) welcomed us. “Ha, I’m Frenk. I’ll be your tu guide here in Bejing.” His English proficiency was 2 notches lower than Allan and Ting. It was really hard to understand. Along the 1 hour trip top the hotel, he introduced himself. He used to work in a Scandinavian country (I forgot where exactly) but he retired to pursue his passion for talking and traveling. Wrong choice Wang!

China Journals 1: Land of the Yellow People

Sunday; April 23, 2006

• The tourist group
• Ting from Shenzhen
• Hard sellers
• Food at last!
• Chilly cruise

Ok, this was a group tour by Honey Holidays. It was arranged to be an eight-day trip to China covering Shenzhen, Shanghai, Beijing and Xian. We left home at around 430am. Our flight to Shenzhen was scheduled at 630. At the airport, we got to meet the other members of the group. Our group was 27-persons big; 6 families with 3 to 6 members each. There were also 10 of us in the same age group, two of them anti-socials we never got to interact with the whole trip. These are the seven other peeps I got to talk to:

(from left: the author, edward, michael, carlo, francis, arol,
mark, dane, jam, jane, r-something, r-something and bianca)

1. Dane, 21, Ateneo alumni. MECO, poor tagalog!
2. Francis, 21, La Salle. CLA, AYOS LANG!
3. Bianca, 20, Miriam, Francis’ sis, master haggler
4. Jam, 21, UP alumni, MECO, Nestle, bungisngis
5. Jane, 23, UP din, Accenture, Jam’s ate, dyosa daw
6. Mark, 16, St. Stephen, RAGNAROK ADDICT
7. Arol, 18, La Salle, My sis, whatever (J/K)

We arrived at Shenzhen airport before 9. It was a smooth 2-hour trip. At the airport, we were welcomed by our local tour guide, Ting. She was around 27, petite, typical Chinese features, pretty good English accent. Shenzhen is a relatively young city. 25 years young. It is China’s economic zone; kind’da similar to Sta. Rosa. She led us to our bus and headed straight to the 1^st picture-taking destination, Windows of the World. It boasts huge replicas of the 7 wonders of the ancient and the modern world. The place was nice, but we never got to enter the theme park, ‘twas just a stop-over.

Next stop was a jade museum. My god! The museum guide was hooooootttt! Hehe! The tour only lasted for less than 15 mins. After that, a platoon on red-dressed ladies charged towards us. They have one thing in mind, sell us jade. Man, they were really impressive. The most persistent bunch of sales force you would ever encounter! Total damage: around 700 RMB. Bonus: 1 free cup of tea.

We scurried to the airport after that. Not quite understanding what Ting said, We assumed it was “You will have your lunch at the airplane.” So we all boarded the plane to Shanghai hoping to taste some delicious airplane entrée. The flight attendant first gave us wet napkins followed by a bag of nuts. Ok, appetizer. 10 minutes later, we saw them pushing the food cart again. Alas! Candies! Dessert! We then realized that Ting actually said, “You have lunch at the AIRPORT!” S-H-I-T!

We arrived Shanghai airport two hours later hungry as hell. A new tour guide welcomed us, Allan. He speaks better English but has a bit of an Aussie accent. We asked him how long does it take to reach the next destination, hopefully, a restaurant. Luckily, it really was a restaurant but after an hour of travel, the damage has been done.

Custard, tofu, steamed fish, pechay, chicken, meatballs, dimsum, more pechay; it was the most delicious meal I ever had! Or maybe it just because I was too hungry to be judging the taste of the food served. After dinner we had this river cruise. It was sooooo cold! I couldn’t feel that snot was dripping down my nose! But it was worth it. Shanghai by night was very beautiful! There were lights everywhere, a mix of old and new structures glowing with neon lights. After the 40-minute cruise, it’s off to the hotel.

Its actually a motel, Motel 168. But it’s different from the motel you green-minded guys know or actually privileged use. HAHAHA!

walang pasalubong si droz

hahaha! pagpasensyahan nyo na ako. wala pa ako trabaho. :p pag-balik ko dun, promis meron na!

pero nagantihan nyo naman ako e... email sakin ni chevy...



From: seis
Date: Monday, May 01, 2006 15:18:00
Subject: Re: i come back!
kaso namiss mo yung swimming nung sabado

mga nakapunta:

1. fergus
2. rhomen
3. me
4. jerrymel
5. fritz
6. nikolai
7. carlo
8. quiambao
9. kulot
10. robert
11. modesto
12. ighie
13. kris
14. cleo
15. lorraine
15. avigael
16. gladys
17. angela
18. ria joy
19. glaiza p.
20. julie
21. dyan
22. mark neil desagon
23. joanne velasquez

chinese=poor english

i think less than 5 percent of them understand english and even fewer speak them. in china, HELLO means a thousand words:
1. hello
2. come here
3. are you kidding me? (or was it killing?)
4. buy this
5. "palimos"
6. water (really!)
7. you're getting into my nerves
8. please rub my back
9. almost every english word given the right non-verbal and extra-verbal communication

and yup, itenery is supposed to be itinerary...

i also saw tons of funny signs througout china. some of the funniest, i failed to take a picture of are:
1. a sign on a convenience store - No guns, firearms and nuclear weapons allowed.
2. in the airport - Items not let inside the airport: animal carcass, soil, soiled clothes

here are a few of the signs i saw... i'll try to add more when i receive the email from francis.

SUMMARY: “The Itenery”

i'm back! since mahaba-habang kwentuhan to, bullet points muna ilalagay ko. ok? tsaka na yung detailed, uunti-untiin ko.

China Journals 1: Land of the Yellow People
Sunday; April 23, 2006
• The tourist group
• Ting from Shenzhen
• Hard sellers
• Food at last! With Ogie the Pogi
• Chilly cruise at Huwang Pu

China Journals 2: No Lumpia?!
Monday; April 24, 2006
• No food stub?!
• Kung-fu
• Doctor, doctor I am sick?
• Underground activity, something fishy
• To Beijing we will go
• The Coach

China Journals 3: Conquering the Great Wall
Tuesday; April 25, 2006
• Jade factory
• Appreciating calzone, err… cloisonné
• Hero
• Not again?

China Journals 4: I Follow the Water
Wednesday; April 26, 2006
• Tianan Mien Square (Heavenly Peace)
• No Mao?
• Forbidden City
• The Ming Tombs
• 14 hours at the train

China Journals 5: Indecent Exposure
Thursday; April 27, 2006
• Meet Julie, the Dominatrix
• Terracotta Warriors in iPOD
• Farmer Yang and the paparazzi
• Bell and drum tower
• Night Stroll
• Lotus feet

China Journals 6: Sleepless in China
Friday; April 28, 2006
• Panda crap
• Farewell Coach
• Uber-delay at Beijing Airport
• Droz Drop-Dead

China Journals 7: Shanghai Passing
Saturday; April 29, 2006
• Ultimate combination
• Shop ‘til you drop
• Peking duck at last!
• Slumber party: ghost stories part 2

China Journals 8: A Trip to China Without Lumpia and Pancit
Sunday; April 30, 2006
• Pechay farewell
• Sa wakas, mga Pilipino!