Our flights were in and out of Guangzhou so we needed to go there for one more night before going home. We booked a (rather luxurious) hotel and took the train from HK to Guangzhou.
Our intention was to for once enjoy the hotel and the 18th floor views on the Pearl River, and only go out to get something to eat. To do this, we took a small ferry across the river (paid by a friendly local, since we had no 1 RMB notes or coins and it was totally impossible for the cashier to accept a 5 RMB note).
We found bar/restaurant which seemed to be nearly empty at the time, managed to order some food and while we looked away, the bar was suddenly packed with people.
Then some locals noticed us and wanted to welcome us to Guangzhou. This was done by bringing us beer and toasting, and shaking hands ferociously with everyone. And the correct way to toast, this was explained to us non-verbally but very clearly, is to drink the glass in one go. And the same with the next guy. And in a couple of minutes, same again.
This quickly lead to hand-shaking turning into hugging and promises of eternal friendship. This is only my interpretation, since the guy (a police office of some sort) knew exactly 2 things in English; "Welcome to Guangzhou" and "Happy New Year".
Fortunately we were forced to escape to catch the last ferry back across the river.
Taking the ferry somehow landed us in the middle of very early hour preparations of some kind of giant sea creature market. Most of the thousands of crates seemed to contain sea snakes (alive, of course), which were being sorted into smaller crates. Frogs' eyes were being popped out (also while alive) maybe to keep them from jumping away from their boxes.
On the next morning there was only the long way home to be made.
Now, at home, all that remains is to get my courage up and check the credit cards balance, and decide what I need to sell to cover them. Donations welcome.
sunnuntai 10. tammikuuta 2010
Le Grande Finale at Hong Kong
Our trip is coming to an end. Last 3 days were spent in Hong Kong.
3 days is not much in a place that has so much to offer, but we managed to see some of the must-visit places, like the harbour and the peak.
There is a spectacular laser show every night in the harbour, one that everyone visiting HK should see.
When you do, please tell me how it was. We had planned to go and see it but plans were quickly changed when the Happy Hours -column of local newspapers' Entertainment section revealed a 3-hr all-you-can-drink special in a very pleasant English-y pub in a shopping mall close to our hotel.
The waiter of the pub had to be lured into admitting they really did have this kind of liver-punishing promotion. But once the sweet-talking was done, they really lived up to their promise, and kept the vodka, whisky, gin, beer and quality wine flowing freely. All this for a mere 200 HK$, less than 20 €. That is not bad for a place where a decent glass of wine rarely sells for under 60 HK$.
So the Grande Finale Party started off pretty well. The festivities grew pretty loud, as the other patrons consisted of a party of 15 locals, celebrating one girl's birthday. She was treated a very special gift, a Finnish version of Happy Birthday, performed by a trio of Distinguished Finnish Gentlemen, the third being a local resident, Ville M. (who by coincidence possessed a vip card of the pub). Hopefully no recordings of the act survived.
Fortunately we were not the only musical act in the establishment. The real music was provided by a pianist and a very talented (and very attractive) Filipino singer, Victoria.
Later we visited some more bars (and got Victoria to join us). Of these there is not much recollection, except that we were more than once taken for attendees in some toy convention of trade fair.
3 days is not much in a place that has so much to offer, but we managed to see some of the must-visit places, like the harbour and the peak.
There is a spectacular laser show every night in the harbour, one that everyone visiting HK should see.
When you do, please tell me how it was. We had planned to go and see it but plans were quickly changed when the Happy Hours -column of local newspapers' Entertainment section revealed a 3-hr all-you-can-drink special in a very pleasant English-y pub in a shopping mall close to our hotel.
The waiter of the pub had to be lured into admitting they really did have this kind of liver-punishing promotion. But once the sweet-talking was done, they really lived up to their promise, and kept the vodka, whisky, gin, beer and quality wine flowing freely. All this for a mere 200 HK$, less than 20 €. That is not bad for a place where a decent glass of wine rarely sells for under 60 HK$.
So the Grande Finale Party started off pretty well. The festivities grew pretty loud, as the other patrons consisted of a party of 15 locals, celebrating one girl's birthday. She was treated a very special gift, a Finnish version of Happy Birthday, performed by a trio of Distinguished Finnish Gentlemen, the third being a local resident, Ville M. (who by coincidence possessed a vip card of the pub). Hopefully no recordings of the act survived.
Fortunately we were not the only musical act in the establishment. The real music was provided by a pianist and a very talented (and very attractive) Filipino singer, Victoria.
Later we visited some more bars (and got Victoria to join us). Of these there is not much recollection, except that we were more than once taken for attendees in some toy convention of trade fair.
tiistai 5. tammikuuta 2010
New Year in Boracay
Boracay was somewhat as expected, only multiplied several times.
The main attraction is White Beach, a several kilometers long waterfront with hundreds of restaurants on it. And thousands of tourists, too, that's what Boracay is all about. Local living takes mostly place on the other 7100 islands that make up the Philippines.
The beach itself is great as far as tourist beaches go, any beverage, massage, snack, complete meal or a shiny 10€ Breitling watch will be served to your beach chair with a smile. Genuine or fake, hard to tell, but anyway much more than one gets in almost any other country. But sooner or later the mostly excellent seafood will give you food poisoning, 2 out of 5 of us got it this time. So make sure you smell the lapu-lapu you selected for your dinner before it goes to the grill.
So Boracay is not for those who seek to get away from it all, unless their away means being in the midst of thousands of other away-getters. Still, it is a relaxed place, where things tae time to happen and not much can be gained by trying to hurry things up. The adjustment to relaxed timetables started already on the way to the island. We were uncustomary well in time in the airport (minivan - ferry - couple of taxis) only to find out that the flight was not only delayed by 4 hrs but also rerouted to a different town. This however gave us some time to add some well deserved shut-eye to the one hour we managed to get the previous night after finishing the going-away party and before leaving the delightful Tropical Villas, Panglao.
At the time of writing, we're already left Boracay behind, as well as our friend Mr Must-1, who joined us on New Year's Eve. He'll join us later again in Hong Kong. Sickeningly brown, no doubt. And then the well fueled and loudly argumented late-night debates of the future, past and present of Mother Russia are likely to continue. Hopefully they wont get us thrown out of a hotel the second time, though.
The transition to this brand new, still unspoiled and innocent decade was spent on board a partying boat in front of the White Beach. The fireworks were quite spectacular, even if the wine was not.
So the next destination is Hong Kong. ETA 15 minutes.
The main attraction is White Beach, a several kilometers long waterfront with hundreds of restaurants on it. And thousands of tourists, too, that's what Boracay is all about. Local living takes mostly place on the other 7100 islands that make up the Philippines.
The beach itself is great as far as tourist beaches go, any beverage, massage, snack, complete meal or a shiny 10€ Breitling watch will be served to your beach chair with a smile. Genuine or fake, hard to tell, but anyway much more than one gets in almost any other country. But sooner or later the mostly excellent seafood will give you food poisoning, 2 out of 5 of us got it this time. So make sure you smell the lapu-lapu you selected for your dinner before it goes to the grill.
So Boracay is not for those who seek to get away from it all, unless their away means being in the midst of thousands of other away-getters. Still, it is a relaxed place, where things tae time to happen and not much can be gained by trying to hurry things up. The adjustment to relaxed timetables started already on the way to the island. We were uncustomary well in time in the airport (minivan - ferry - couple of taxis) only to find out that the flight was not only delayed by 4 hrs but also rerouted to a different town. This however gave us some time to add some well deserved shut-eye to the one hour we managed to get the previous night after finishing the going-away party and before leaving the delightful Tropical Villas, Panglao.
At the time of writing, we're already left Boracay behind, as well as our friend Mr Must-1, who joined us on New Year's Eve. He'll join us later again in Hong Kong. Sickeningly brown, no doubt. And then the well fueled and loudly argumented late-night debates of the future, past and present of Mother Russia are likely to continue. Hopefully they wont get us thrown out of a hotel the second time, though.
The transition to this brand new, still unspoiled and innocent decade was spent on board a partying boat in front of the White Beach. The fireworks were quite spectacular, even if the wine was not.
So the next destination is Hong Kong. ETA 15 minutes.
sunnuntai 27. joulukuuta 2009
About Calmness and Prices
It's been an activity filled 5 days, I havent spent a single afternoon or morning just laying on a hammock reading a book.
But it means I'm a certified advanced open water diver now. Wonder what good that'll do me, it's hard to picture a situation that would call for a certified AOW diver. Apart from signing up to take even more advanced diving courses, where it is a must. The most advanced level means you become a diving instructor, and then you make even more money for them by not just giving it to them yourself, but also by taking other peoples money and giving it to them. Nice scheme that PADI organization has going there.
Today after the last dive the divemaster congratulated me on moving very slowly and deliberately and staying still on the bottom, observing, while others were doing excercises. My reson for that, though, wasnt the concentration on teaching or trying to conserve air, I just felt like having a minute to myself in total calmness. Sometimes it apparently takes getting to the ocean bottom to have that.
Today is also our final night in Panglao. By coincidence, there is a big party right here at our villas, which we will attend and attack with full force. Might need to continue the party until very late (or very early) to get everyting partied properly. After all, we are partying for an open water certification, 3 advanced OWD's (Rami and Olga had completed theirs, too), and our going away party.
The going away will commence tomorrow morning, with a taxi, a ferry, another taxi, a plane and a taxi. We would've liked to travel by surface, but that would've taken more than a day with 10+ changes of modes of transportation, so we'll fly.
After we finish flying, we should be in Boracay, which is said to have one of the best beaches in the world. Of couse it might be just the boracayan tourist officials saying that. Tomorrow we'll know.
Boracay will also probably be a bit more expensive (and touristy) than Panglao. Here a beer costs somewhere around 50 cents to 1,5€, and our Christmas dinner at a beachfront restaurant (toes buried in the sand) cost something around 12€ per person. And we really tried to eat as much freshly barbecued everything (including squid, lapu-lapu, beef etc.) as possible, complete with appetizers, flushed down with beer, caipirinhas and wine (which is relatively expensve here).
Today I had lunch in a local eatery; fried rice and vegetables in coconut milk cost all of 23 Philippine pesos, which translates to the same amount of money that i get back home if i take 2 empty beer cans back to the store.
Our transport here has been two almost new Honda XR 200 trail bikes, which have served us well in the sometimes undescribable roads.
It is 2.30 pm now, and I think I finally have the time to hit that hammock now and wait for the party buffet to start.
The others are wathcing tarsiers (kind of very tiny monkey), which, being very unbarbecuable animals, dont interest me in this state of mind at all.
But it means I'm a certified advanced open water diver now. Wonder what good that'll do me, it's hard to picture a situation that would call for a certified AOW diver. Apart from signing up to take even more advanced diving courses, where it is a must. The most advanced level means you become a diving instructor, and then you make even more money for them by not just giving it to them yourself, but also by taking other peoples money and giving it to them. Nice scheme that PADI organization has going there.
Today after the last dive the divemaster congratulated me on moving very slowly and deliberately and staying still on the bottom, observing, while others were doing excercises. My reson for that, though, wasnt the concentration on teaching or trying to conserve air, I just felt like having a minute to myself in total calmness. Sometimes it apparently takes getting to the ocean bottom to have that.
Today is also our final night in Panglao. By coincidence, there is a big party right here at our villas, which we will attend and attack with full force. Might need to continue the party until very late (or very early) to get everyting partied properly. After all, we are partying for an open water certification, 3 advanced OWD's (Rami and Olga had completed theirs, too), and our going away party.
The going away will commence tomorrow morning, with a taxi, a ferry, another taxi, a plane and a taxi. We would've liked to travel by surface, but that would've taken more than a day with 10+ changes of modes of transportation, so we'll fly.
After we finish flying, we should be in Boracay, which is said to have one of the best beaches in the world. Of couse it might be just the boracayan tourist officials saying that. Tomorrow we'll know.
Boracay will also probably be a bit more expensive (and touristy) than Panglao. Here a beer costs somewhere around 50 cents to 1,5€, and our Christmas dinner at a beachfront restaurant (toes buried in the sand) cost something around 12€ per person. And we really tried to eat as much freshly barbecued everything (including squid, lapu-lapu, beef etc.) as possible, complete with appetizers, flushed down with beer, caipirinhas and wine (which is relatively expensve here).
Today I had lunch in a local eatery; fried rice and vegetables in coconut milk cost all of 23 Philippine pesos, which translates to the same amount of money that i get back home if i take 2 empty beer cans back to the store.
Our transport here has been two almost new Honda XR 200 trail bikes, which have served us well in the sometimes undescribable roads.
It is 2.30 pm now, and I think I finally have the time to hit that hammock now and wait for the party buffet to start.
The others are wathcing tarsiers (kind of very tiny monkey), which, being very unbarbecuable animals, dont interest me in this state of mind at all.
perjantai 25. joulukuuta 2009
Christmas Eve with Lapu-Lapu
China was left behind and we're in the Philippines now. Came via Manila where we only stopped to change planes and get our security checked for the umpteenth time.
Long story short, around 20 hrs of travelling after leaving our hotel in Guangzhou (taxis, 2 planes and and a ferry), were greeted in Tagbilaran city by Jorge, the driver for the villas we're staying at. By this time, we had joined with Rami & Olga who came via Hong Kong. We have a 2-bedroom villa for ourselves, and there are 3 pools for us, a smaller one, a bigger one, and the one called the Bohol Sea.
So now I am writing this at Danao Beach in Panglao, Bohol.
and the subtropical part of the holiday has truly started. We know this mostly because of the kids coming around singing Christmas carols, and expecting a few peso in return (acknowledged by an appropriate Thank You Very Very Much -song). These kids are of the maximum age of 10 yrs, and down to the age where the smallest of them is still in the innocent age of wiggling the penis while singing Christmas songs to travellers. Too bad the camera wasnt with me just now. I'm unfortunately sure some of you would've enjoyed that kind of pics.
So it is Christmas Eve now. The eve's eve was celebrated yesterday by some Christmassy BBQ on our lawn, and later by joining the villa's staff Christmas party. Which we revived, but only for a moment, since this morning we started our scuba lessons.
For tomorrow, we took a day off the lessons, because today we have a plan of pulling some traditional Finnish Christmas Faces (perusjoulunaamat). And we'll have the tonttulakit (tont lacks), too.
Long story short, around 20 hrs of travelling after leaving our hotel in Guangzhou (taxis, 2 planes and and a ferry), were greeted in Tagbilaran city by Jorge, the driver for the villas we're staying at. By this time, we had joined with Rami & Olga who came via Hong Kong. We have a 2-bedroom villa for ourselves, and there are 3 pools for us, a smaller one, a bigger one, and the one called the Bohol Sea.
So now I am writing this at Danao Beach in Panglao, Bohol.
and the subtropical part of the holiday has truly started. We know this mostly because of the kids coming around singing Christmas carols, and expecting a few peso in return (acknowledged by an appropriate Thank You Very Very Much -song). These kids are of the maximum age of 10 yrs, and down to the age where the smallest of them is still in the innocent age of wiggling the penis while singing Christmas songs to travellers. Too bad the camera wasnt with me just now. I'm unfortunately sure some of you would've enjoyed that kind of pics.
So it is Christmas Eve now. The eve's eve was celebrated yesterday by some Christmassy BBQ on our lawn, and later by joining the villa's staff Christmas party. Which we revived, but only for a moment, since this morning we started our scuba lessons.
For tomorrow, we took a day off the lessons, because today we have a plan of pulling some traditional Finnish Christmas Faces (perusjoulunaamat). And we'll have the tonttulakit (tont lacks), too.
City of the Affordable Shoe and Every Other Manufactured Thing
Took more than 24 hrs to get from home to Guangzhou. The financially wise route is not necessarily logistically clever; about 9 hrs after leaving home, we flew nearly right over it. I promise to offset the CO2 emissions by slowing my metabolism to near stop when we get to Philippines.
Guangzhou, formerly known as Canton, sits right in the middle of the area in the world that makes all your Things. Your iPods, plastic christmas trees, shoes, shirts, laptops, webcams, ashtrays, batteries, car wiring harnesses, measuring tapes, kitchen scales, backpacks, blinking led -signs saying OPEN and CAFE, table fans, hearing aids, wallets, extension cords, toys, sunglasses (that you think make you look cool), belts, buttons on your jeans, safety deposit boxes, electrical switches, pens, walkie-talkies and business card holders were all made here. Even if it doesnt say so on the package.
Our hotel sits at the relatively charming Shamian (Sand Surface) island. The island carries influences from overseas trading history, when it had the exclusive position of housing the warehouses of British and French trading companies.
The hotel is nice-ish, and it comes with a complimentary, very much government-controlled, internet-access. I had to resort to level 4 internet communications witchcraft to get around the government sencorship forbidding the access to dangerous and revolutionary websites such as facebook.
Arriving from our hotel at the relatively charming island towards the hard trading core of the city, we came across some shoe stores. And when I say some, I mean around 20 blocks of them. On several floors. Unfortunately for me, none of them dont carry the size "canoe for children, ages 8-12". One outlet even made the effort of having someone ship the largest samples from the factory (fifbeen minid, fifbeen minid) but unfortunately the shoe doesnt get bigger by stamping a larger number on it.
We only stay here for two nights, which is good for now since a city with population of 10,5M is too busy at this early point in the vacation.
Tomorrow, we're off to somewhere completely different.
Guangzhou, formerly known as Canton, sits right in the middle of the area in the world that makes all your Things. Your iPods, plastic christmas trees, shoes, shirts, laptops, webcams, ashtrays, batteries, car wiring harnesses, measuring tapes, kitchen scales, backpacks, blinking led -signs saying OPEN and CAFE, table fans, hearing aids, wallets, extension cords, toys, sunglasses (that you think make you look cool), belts, buttons on your jeans, safety deposit boxes, electrical switches, pens, walkie-talkies and business card holders were all made here. Even if it doesnt say so on the package.
Our hotel sits at the relatively charming Shamian (Sand Surface) island. The island carries influences from overseas trading history, when it had the exclusive position of housing the warehouses of British and French trading companies.
The hotel is nice-ish, and it comes with a complimentary, very much government-controlled, internet-access. I had to resort to level 4 internet communications witchcraft to get around the government sencorship forbidding the access to dangerous and revolutionary websites such as facebook.
Arriving from our hotel at the relatively charming island towards the hard trading core of the city, we came across some shoe stores. And when I say some, I mean around 20 blocks of them. On several floors. Unfortunately for me, none of them dont carry the size "canoe for children, ages 8-12". One outlet even made the effort of having someone ship the largest samples from the factory (fifbeen minid, fifbeen minid) but unfortunately the shoe doesnt get bigger by stamping a larger number on it.
We only stay here for two nights, which is good for now since a city with population of 10,5M is too busy at this early point in the vacation.
Tomorrow, we're off to somewhere completely different.
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