M-m-m-m-m-mmmmmainland!

GUANGZHOU

Friday the 15th
Woke up at 12, packed, got locked out my room again (2nd time now :@), then headed off to Chinese Consulate with Aaron and Ghor to pick up China Visas.
Then met up with the others at Shenzhen border to go to Guangzhou (GZ). YES. CHINA!
It takes an hour by train to go from SZ to GZ. Once we got there, took the Metro to our Hostel. It was actually surprisingly nice and decent. We got 2 rooms, but there were 8 of us, and you're only allowed like 2 ppl per room. So we ended up sneaking the other 4 into the rooms. It worked out well. I had the impression that Hostels were all very sketch, old, had cots...but it was better than a...motel!

"We're staying at the GAY Youth Hostel!!?!??!?!?!"

Then we headed to dinner at like 10pm. Finally settled down at Snake Village, where they were famous for their snake dishes. I think we finished dinner by like 12am. Had snake congee, rabbit stew.....:S I didn't eat either. Took the snake OUT of my congee, and ate the veggies IN the stew. After that, we soon called it a night.

Sat the 16th
Got ready by 10am. Went to get some Chinese buns. We stayed in this area where they had European-style buildings, I think they were left over by the Brits or something. The whole road was filled with little stores that had names like "Jennifer's Place" or "Susan's Place" or "Andy's Shop". They either sold little souvenirs or were laundrymats. We were also by the Pearl River...and the White Swan Hotel...some famous hotel that was super nice. But meh, our hostel was fine too psh.

Then we went to see 2 temples, I don't remember the names. But it was interesting…the huge Buddhas, the amount of ppl…The 2nd temple had this 9 storey Pagoda, and we went all the way to the top and got some nice shots of the view. GZ is nice, but very old and rundown. All the roofs of the apartment buildings were basically...non-existent....and they didn't look very clean at all. But it was still a good view nonetheless due to the height. It was very hard to walk up and down the narrow stairs of the Pagoda. I felt bad for the kids who were 5 feet and above. lol.

After the temple, we went to see a Mosque, but only Muslims were allowed. So we waited outside by the streets, while Ali explored around the Mosque. There was a random wooden chair right by the sidewalk, and we all just “hea”-ed there for a while. There were some Islamic restaurants/shops across the street, where they had chicken, beef, mutton all chopped up and hung in a see through fridge. It was barbaric.

Later, we headed for some Viet food. Mmmmm…pho. Love. And then shopping at Beijing Road! The stores were super similar to Alikoh mall in Mong Kok. But the streets were a lot wider and more spacious. I prefer to not discuss about my purchases. Let’s just say I’m still learning how to haggle and learning it the hard way. Ugh. Whatevs. Then tried some snacks…I forget what it’s called again. The fruits covered in candy ? I’ll ask.

After shopping, we went on a mini-dinner-cruise. We got jipped. Well it was only 50 RMB, but we thought it'd be buffet...cause we walk into the ship, and there were nice buffet table set-ups. And then looo and behold...we all get FUN HAPS. :S:S:S:S It was like airplane food. Bah. Not naaice. But we went up on deck to take pictures. The view was pretty. But my camera...bah, all the night pics are blurry. Oh well.

Later, we headed to two bars. Mmhmmm…it was okay. There were dancers :S The 2nd bar was all right, there was a Filipino singer named Rosell and she was super good and nice. There were some very um…interesting dancing going on in the bar. Crazy men. I don’t think they were drunk either…they were just weird :S.
After that, half of us went back to the hostel to call it a night.

Sun the 17th
I woke up a bit late today, the others went back to visit the Mosque and to get some souvenirs. It was a gloomy day today, and it was sprinkling for a bit….I walked around with Joe in the morning and saw some of the elders doing tai chi, playing hacky-sack and badminton, and kids painting the scenery by the Pearl River. It was nice. Then checked out, and we went off to a museum where the Nan Yue King and his tomb was preserved. Saw the jade silk cast that he was buried in, and stepped into his tomb. Pretty cool, I must say. I’m definitely no museum buff, but it was nice to pick up a few facts today. There were 15 human sacrifices (his concubines, cooks, slaves) found in the tombstone, meaning these ppl were buried...(perhaps alive?) with the dead king. Pretty nuts eh.

After the museum, we went to grab lunch and then headed back to SZ. Went to the mall there for a while to get some DVDs. Haggled again. Ugh. I feel the heat every time I bargain. I feel like I’m about to burst in flames. It’s sooo hard. I think it’s a skill you gotta learn. It’s really stressful and makes shopping so unappealing. Ugh.

Oh well. Got through the borders and ta-da, we were back in HK :D I still love HK. I think I appreciate HK a whole new way after this trip. I love it even more now..more than I already do. We ate at Festival Walk and I had choi and rice :)

Then we headed back to UST and damn, it actually felt good to be back on campus.

In the minibus...

"Um. Who's orange is this? It's rolled all the way to the front of the bus."
"Hmmm...*checks* Oh Shit! My oranges are everywhere!"

I cleaned, sweeped, did laundry today. Sighs.

Overall, the trip was pretty good. 2 days were definitely not enough to see all of GZ, but I think pleasant enough to get a taste. Walking along the streets of GZ was very depressing sometimes. There were so many poor ppl..and kids. A lot of them didn't have hands or feet, and this kid's leg was all rotten and it was just really...sighs. I don't even know where to start...but I guess it really puts things into perspective. There's soo much to be done. I know, crappy way to end the entry. But it just further shows how sheltered...yet blessed I have been.

It's apparently "Family Day" tomorrow in Toronto. Heh heh...

It's also time to start hitting the books...and looking into Singapore.

Sighsssssssss............