DAY 1: October 28 2005 [Friday]

"GETTING TO KNOW CHINA"

    We went off around 9am to go to the Centennial Airport. It was pretty early but somehow I got away with all the waiting since I was so excited. We reached there around 11:30am and as we waited for our flight [scheduled 2pm to Canton, China], we just spent our time for picture & video taking. It was so cool. By the way I spent my whole trip with my mom and sister. My brother was left in Manila since he has a job and can't take a leave.

    So after hours of waiting, roaming around and yawning all throughout, flight 2P 1136 was finally called for departure. Sa wakas haha. I got into more excitement as we rode the airport bus which had brought us to the Air Philippines airplane. After boarding all passengers and languages, the propellers finally spin and flew 29,000 feet above. The flight to Canton took 2 hours so while in the plane, I enjoyed my time looking at the window and feeling oh-so melancholic as I stared at the thick clouds. Hapon na nun kaya kitang-kita ang mga ulap. Hay. Ang sarap talagang pagmasdan at naisip kong parang nasa langit na ako. Nakakapawi ng problema at ang nasa isip ko lang nun ay ang pagiging magsaya. And yeah, not to mention too the heavenly-like food which was served in the plane. I loved the dessert. =)

    Pareho lang ang oras sa China kumpara sa Pilipinas. Around 4:30pm, we reached Canton and man, their airport was SO HUGE! Para bang walang katao-tao pero ang totoo, napakalaki lang talaga ng airport nila. Dun pa lang, napahanga na ako. So anyways, we passed through the immigration and haha, that was when I started to apply my Chinese language skills. ;p Ewan ko ba kung mataray lang talaga yung taga-Immigration o di lang ako naintindihan  - di man lang ako nginitian matapos kong magsabi ng "Tsai Tyen" (Goodbye)! Aba. Buti nga't pinag-aaralan ko kahit konti ang salita nila di ba. Tsktsk.

    As we went to the arrival area, the tour guide was waiting for us there already. We waited for the other Filipinos who also took that package tour. It took a while but haha, I never got bored again due to the fact that I observed something weird among a few people there in Canton. Why? I saw many black people despite the fact that I'm in China! Kasi di ba, maiisip mong mas marami ka dapat makitang singkit?! Haha. My mom and sister were laughing at that observation too. Later on, I asked the Chinese English-speaking tour guide [whose name is LingLing] and she told me that they were Africans working in Canton. Kumbaga sa Pinas, eh para silang mga Bumbay na nakakita ng lugar sa Pinas para mag-negosyo. Trivia isn't it? Cool. Right now I'm still researching whether there's a history behind Sino-African relations or it had just been a mere migration. [Ruben help me?! LOL!]

      5:30pm na nang sumakay kami ng tour bus papuntang Shenzhen, China. Just an FYI, Shenzhen is the center of China's jewelry. It sells cheap but real jewelries [such as Jade, Diamonds, Amethyst, etc..] and in deed, it's a trade town. As the trip went on, I saw the streets of China and I had numerous observations! First, there's no traffic! How I wish it applies in the Philippines as well so that people won't get late on their jobs. Second, the roads are so clean! Not to mention also that there are plants everywhere and it was pleasing to the eyes. Third, tall buildings are everywhere. I seldom saw small story houses so somehow, it was something unique.

    So after being enchanted with China's regimented streets, we went down the bus and we dropped by the University of Herbal Medicine. They gave us a few lectures and yeah, I learned a lot of things. They told us the value of tea, acupuncture and they taught us some Chinese ways to relieve minor body pains such as headache, vomiting, burns, etc. Naisip ko tuloy na ang gagaling ng Chinese pagdating sa ganun. Yun nga lang, haha, may na-observe lang ako sa kanila na ikinagulat ko. Bagama't mga doktor sila, amoy putok sila!!! No joke. No offense to the Chinese but it was true! Naisip na lang namin ng ate ako na baka dahil sa kinakain. There's a distinct smell of Chinese food which had a resemblance with that awful smell of some Chinese people there. Weird.

    Later, we had dinner and since it was included in the package tour, we never worried about ordering food. I was really hungry at that time and as the food got served, wahaha bigla yatang nawalan ako ng gana. Una, di man lang nagbigay ng spoon & fork! Di naman ako ganung ka-sanay mag-chopsticks kaya pinag-tiyagaan ko na lang. Pangalawa, ang alien ng mga pagkain! There was this dish which was somewhat like a 'taho' [soybean] but as I tasted it, the dish was too spicy! Yung Peking duck nila, ang kunat! Parang rubber band haha! It took time for me to adjust with the food. Bumili pa kami ng coke [worth p200 pag kinonvert mo! Ang mahal!] kasi tea ang iniinom doon palagi [ayoko kasi ng lasa ng tea]. I didn't enjoy my first dinner really. I guess I wasn't able to tweak my mind that I was with a different culture already. Meanwhile, the culture shock grew more as we used the public toilet. Bakit kamo? Kakaiba yung toilet bowl nila! Nasa sahig yung butas [kapantay ng floor tiles, just imagine that!] kaya para bang maaamoy mo yung anghit! Nakakarumi talaga [haha], kaya di na ako nag-CR at pinigil ko na lang hanggang sa makarating ng hotel.

    It took us 2 hours to reach Ambassador Hotel so as we arrived, we were all very tired and immeditely rushed to the CR. ;p By the way, the temperature was so cold in China [it snows at the Northern part of China] especially at night and I just loved the chills. =) In the room, we unpacked and I took a shower. After that, we TRIED to request for a transformer to charge our videocam but harhar, even the hotel clerks cannot understand English! May pumuntang clerk sa room namin pero langya, di pa rin kami nagkaunawaan! Mustrahan na ang nangyari - hand sign dito, barok na salita doon. Pareho kaming tao pero para kaming alien sa isa't isa. Haha. Tipong siya ay taga-Mars, ako ay taga-Pluto. Ah ewan, nabaliw lang ako lalo at ang mas masaklap, di pa na-charge yung cam! So anyways, I turned on the TV, wishing that there shall be cable channels, but wengkk, everything was in Chinese language too. At dahil di pa ako makatulog, pinag-tiyagaan ko ang mga salitang di ko naman nauunawaan! Haha. Di talaga ko masyadong nakatulog kasi nga siguro, naninibago pa ako.