Journey to the Motherland Part 3 - Shenzhen

Shenzhen - 17 July 2006

To be honest, we didn't really spend much time in shenzhen. We entered shenzhen from hongkong on the MTR and basically just had lunch there and went to the airport. Nothing much to speak of except one interesting cafe we went to. (plus i am lazy and still uploading the videos for chengdu)

For non-hokkien speakers... you probably would not know what this blog means.



But i present to you the bestest, most striking, attention grabbing cafe in China









A "BLUE BIRD" cafe for "BLUE BIRD" faces as such...





They even have a "BLUE BIRD" bakery.. this one even more champion... Ti Bu "BLUE BIRD" some more... sky mother L J .... what the hell does that mean...??



"BLUE BIRD" coffee....



and even "BLUE BIRD" tissues for "BLUE BIRD" dai3 ji3 ... hahaha






Now we know where all the "BLUE BIRD" people go and hang out and become even more "BLUE BIRD"...

hahaah couldn't help it man... this type of "BLUE BIRD" dai3 ji3 have to share one


Anyway, after that amusing episode in the shenzhen airport... we were off to the gateway of Tibet, Chengdu!



just some pictures taken on the plane in flight during sunset...



A beautiful beginning ... signalling better things to come...


Next.. the capital of Si Chuan... or Szechuan ( as my american counterparts like to call it), Chengdu.

Journey to the motherland part 2 - Hongkong

HongKong 16 July to 17 July

Well, as with all international-cross-pacific travels you lose a day or two in midair, i think over the years i have become seasoned when it comes to such travels so i didn't really feel the 28 hours go by. One interesting thing though was when i took the flight from Narita airport to Hongkong, the Black Eyed Peas happened to be on the same flight as i was. When i was going through immigration, one the singers was right behind me... shorter than me though haha. The lead female singer.. wow she is really short.. i was surprised.. and she didn't look that good in person anyway. But their presence didn't quite muster enough excitement in me to grab a pen out and get signatures.

Anyway, after such a long flight, i finally met up with my brother, Tan wee with whom i have undertaken this milestone trip.



Sherry, my friend from the University of Arizona was also waiting there to pick us up. You see, she has been nice enough to host us for the 2 days that we were there and even came to the airport especially to pick us up. Before we got there, she already has had our plans mapped out for the night. We got out of the airport sometime after midnight and we were to first go to her home put our bags down, then meet her friends, go clubbing (mind you this is after my 28 hour flight plus transit time), right after clubbing we would head directly for a dim sum breakfast, followed by immediately visiting the major sights of hongkong (in reality we did go back and steal couple hours of sleep before setting out on the streets) and ending the day with a trip up to Victoria Peak. Talk about the hustle and bustle of hongkong life!

Surprisingly, the night of clubbing didn't do much to dampen our spirits as we were still up and prepare to go. This is a picture of Sherry and me on the way to downtown hongkong after the short nap.



Then of course, in my hopes of joining 5 takes : season 3, i decided to do a little interview with sher and get her opinions on HK.



This is tan wee being bullied to carry all the bag.. haha more like i sabo him.. not much chances to sabo him.. so when opportunity strikes.. haha..

(tanwee: u and KFC really got fate.. even take this picture, KFC also somehow get involved in tehe picture)





The brothers Tan and Tang with the hongkong skyline behind us.



Then of course i had to take a video of us taking the cruise and disturb the cute little boy sitting in front of us.



Ok now i have to introduce you to an awesome person, his name is Ralph. He is Sherry's friend and he turned out to be such an easy going person to hang out with. Had a cool time talking with him about french food, business in china and his line of work. This guy is such a good salesman, he can make talking about paint an interesting endeavour. :)
Obviously he is the one with the orange hat.



haha and this is a short video of why Ralph is not lonely working as an expat in hongkong.



Then we had to get in on the act as well...

Looking for something ?



Where have your hands been?


then the most decent one among us.


as the day progressed we got hungry and ahead for the street with lots of seafood. Along the way, i managed to chance upon this scene happening.



I had heard of it but never actually seen it myself, this is a old chinese way of cursing other people. Called 'da xiao ren', you basically curse the person by hitting a paper cutout of that person repeatly with a wooden clog. Pretty amusing if u ask me, if you got a problem with that person tell it to him/her straight la.. why is there a need for such measures?

Anyway, we managed to find that street full of seafood and Ralph even treated us to a yummy seafood dinner!



As the night died down, we were ahead for the top of victoria peak to get a glimpse of the famous night lights of HK.



It was a cloudy night but still we were lucky to see the view from the peak. Not quite what i was exoecting but still charming nonetheless.



The next morning just before we were about to leave for shenzhen, sherry's mum prepare a delicious breakfast for us. very thoughtful of her and we were in high spirits getting ready to enter the mainland.



Overall, hongkong was an awesome experience, the energy and the rhythm of city completedly absorbed us and consumed us. It was fun and very enjoyable, despite my distaste for large cities and the frantic pace of life there... i can honestly say i was charmed by this pearl of the orient and it was a great start to our journeys in china.
:)



Next installment will be of us in shenzhen and the journey towards chengdu. :)

Journey to the motherland part 1 - Los Angeles

After some much needed rest and a couple of drinking sessions here and i am finally back on my feet and ready to start blog about my epic one month long journey. Just the other day i viewed some of the pictures with my friends and after 3 hours we barely managed to see half of them. So to make it bearable for you and for my poor fingers... i shall break the July 12 to August 15 down into installments. But i have to say... Tibet and Yangshuo was da BOMB!!!


LA July 12 to July 14



There were much more pictures but unfortunately due to a miscomunnication, i left those pictures in my friend's place in china... So without pictures, i can't really recall what happened about a month ago. Except that

I finally met up with Zhaorong and her boyfriend
A fireman decided to test my speed in putting on the fireman's gear (which i didn't do very well in)
Went to the awesome Long Beach
Rented a bicycle and had the perfect start to a trip cycling all the stress away
Went to the Getty Museum
and had an all round good time there!!!

So after two days and sun-soaked beaches.. i took off for Hongkong on my very affordable courier flight. (only cost me USD550 for a round trip for Hongkong/LAX during peak season!)


haha small and slow start to my travelog.. but! promise to have more pictures in the next installment.... HONGKONG.

Clifton Returns!

I am back!! After a whirlwind one month tour, i am finally back in tucson. What can i say, the friendships forged, the experiences, the roads travelled, the memories... its hard .. hard to describe the trip but i promise to journalise the journey and share the things i have seen with you. For now... my bed is calling me.