Blogs from Guangdong, China, Asia - page 147

(P.S I am writing this all postumously, it is actually the 3rd of June but I havent had access for a week. If I get my tenses muddled, Im sorry) Im so disappointed I could cry. My camera is full, I cant take any more pictures and, try as I might, I cant upload the pictures I have. Major dilema. Anyway. I was about to tell you about the art gallery but first I have a funny little anecdote to impart. Last night after I left the internet cafe I had to catch the subway back to the hotel. By this stage it was pretty late at night, but I was fairly confident I had mastered the system. At the station I bought my ticket, followed the arrows and got on the train. Once on the ... read more

I have been in Guangzhou for three days now, its getting easier. (Im sorry for the continuing lack of pictures, I promise as soon as I figure out how to upload them you will see all) Guangzhou is a an onslaught for all five senses. The first thing you notice is the heat. It is increadibly hot and increadibly humid. It is constantly foggly like a bathroom is when you have a very long, very hot shower with all the windows closed and no fan on. On top of that you add the noise. The noise is indescribable. The symphony of honking, grinding, squeeling, chugging is background music for the talking, yelling, coughing, laughing, clapping and spitting of millions of people going about thier daily lives. After the noise your eyes are overwhelmed by having too ... read more

Hey Dad, Wow- we definately came from humble beginnings. After 4 hrs of travel and asking for directions from the locals, I retraced our roots to a little village aka as (....drumroll...) the Dump! Small lanes, old old shacks, newer low rise buildings replaced what were once crumbling huts. Rubbish everywhere, stray dogs and little shops along the lane. A huge contrast to the island life of beach and palm trees in the South Pacific! Dad, I just want to say that I am pretty sure we found the right village even though you gave us the wrong directions to get there!! We decided to go with the directions of the locals as opposed to what you remembered from when you were 5yrs old!! We definately went to JinSing and then to "Ah Yew Kew" ... read more

I’ve been back in Hong Kong for over a week after my trip to Guangzhou, China. But, I’ve delayed updating my blog. My experiences, both incredible and disturbingly painful, have been so raw and emotion-laden that I’ve hesitated to write about them, lest I write something that I later might regret. But, after talking them over with several friends and family members, I now feel ready to relate them to you. I’ll use the sandwich technique to organize my remarks. Therefore, I’ll share positive, then negative, then positive experiences with you. I do this deliberately with the hope that those who read about how I was treated in China remember that not all people in China would treat me this way. While some of the following paragraphs are deeply troubling, others recount some wonderful aspects of ... read more

Yup, so the weather is still really crappy here. It's the never ending rain. And they say it'll be raining for another week... yippie! Yesterday I spent almost 24 hours not talking to anyone... very bad for ones mental state sometimes... LOL Too much time to think, but I ended coming to the net cafe and got on MSN and had the opportunity to talk via microphone to Brandon and Estelle.. thanks for saving my sanity... LOL It was nice to talk to people from back home. I ended up leaving the net cafe around 2 am or so and headed back to Martin's flat. Trying to fall asleep was tough, so many mosquitoes !!! I think I passed out around 4am or so. Woke up today to more rain :o( So I decided to just ... read more