When In Suzhou

August 3, 2013 --- Ahoy mates! Good morning from Balintawak, Quezon City. I have been home from China for four months now. Let's rewind to 4 months ago!

We woke up early in our honeymoon suite. The bathroom provided no privacy from the bedroom, hence the conclusion. The toilet stink was definitely shared between the two areas. Moving on, we were slowly wandering off to the Hangzhou train station, when shite! Where's my blimey unused tripod? Taxis in China are not so expensive. I must say, even cheap in a city nearest Shanghai. Run back to the hostel, taxi back to the station. And with little time left, run and board the train!! Nah, we still had the luxury to eat, sit and drink. Such was our punctuality in Shanghai, no time for that now. 

Door #1 leads to Door #2, which leads to Door #3. Not really. It's just my door series. The lady is getting irritated with doors. 

I planned to revisit some of Suzhou's renowned classical gardens. In ancient China, these were considered the one of the luxuries of emperors and that similar class. And that revisitation indeed was worth it, it was everything in a box. China in-a-nutshell would be a more encompassing phrase. 

We decided to go with a tour group, maybe out of curiosity, maybe out of convenience. The biggest flaw was having us visit those tourist traps selling silk, and another jewelry store. I don't think I am ever to buy from such promotions saying buy now cause there's 50% off for you.  

Enter the Venice of the East. The waterways and canals of Suzhou have been dubbed as such with its preserved classic Chinese architecture and real-life gondolas of China. 

 

At night, the city still boasts of its lighted tilted pagodas. We do like taking advantage of them cheap efficient non-cheating taxis. Hear, hear Philippines!

Those three characters below literally translate to Suzhou station. This is not an airport terminal; it is a mere reflection of the gargantuan progress of great mother China in the past 10 years. The station beats the ass out of our beloved worst airport in the world, NAIA. Hear hear again!

We sit back, relax and enjoy the high speed train ride back to the Paris of the East. Godspeed Suzhou, we'll be coming back for you someday. My abrupt attention span forbids me... 

Ignored: Jordan Photo Diary

'Twas 2012, except my wrist getting busted, I was having the best summer yet. I am pretty sure there will be more best summers to come. But for now...

MNL-DXB on a long haul B777-300 after a long long while. What a relief, I was starting to hate the tiny A320. 

DXB-AMM on another long haul. Yes yes yes! The holy land trip can only get better from here. Queen Alia International Airport is not as bad as our Ninoy Aquino International Airport. There are not much people around; I got used to the myriad of welcoming staff back home. Welcome to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, says our guide.  

First stop, Madaba, the city of Mosaics. Below is a picture of the oldest preserved mosaic map of Jerusalem. Belonging to the floor of an orthodox church, visitors are free to see this ancient masterpiece. On the top left quadrant, you see the elliptical object, that would be the walled city of Jerusalem atop Mount Moriah. 

This stone conglomerate is similar to the one used to seal the tomb of Christ. 



From the peak of Mount Nebo, the Israelites who were with Moses supposedly saw across the Jordan River what Israel is today. It was of lush greenery and land to be cultivated. The Jordan River is the great divide between the two states; it runs from the Sea of Galilee all the way south to the Dead Sea.

The following day, we traveled 2 hours to arrive at Petra. The photographs do no justice to what this majestic place offers. Civilizations existed here in these carved rock structures. Peeking in the photo below is the famed treasury building. Petra exists to be Jordan's prized attraction today. 

View outside the hotel room, this was seven in the evening.

I traveled far and wide with my travel buddy, Star Apple. She deserves a solo photograph with the Wadi Mujib, a mini Grand Canyon-like destination.

The citadel of Amman is also atop the hill, almost at the city center. 

For our last stop before entering Israeli soil, we visit the ruins of the Roman city of Gerasa. The well-preserved Hadrian gate welcomed us, and so did the hippodrome. The Hadrian gate supposedly faces Rome, if I remember, but I don't really. Hippodrome being derived from Greek 'hippos' meaning horse and 'dromos' meaning course. You would have gotten the gist of what activities are done there. Both are included in the picture below. 

The oval center of the city is officially known as the Forum(below). The long colonnaded street arising from here is called the Cardo Maximus, which supposedly translates to the main north-south road bisecting the city. As all roads lead to Rome, they say; this one might just also. 

Notice the girls in the picture above. These Jordanian schoolgirls are having their field trip today. Reader, you would not believe how all these girls lined up to take pictures of us, with us, what us. I doubt they have seen Asian men prior to our encounter. Note, these girls were screaming. I was like whuut. Oh well, let's just enjoy Jordanian beauty.

After this market walk-through, it was so long, Jordan. I still don't know much about Jordanian culture. So, see you again later. 

Touchdown Shanghai PVG

Summer is now over. It is actually the middle of July now. When the rainy days come knocking, there is not much left to do outdoors. Yes I am an outdoor person, have I not established that already? But it has been a while since I last held my camera, with the exception of yesterday. It has been a while since I last blogged as well. This is so random. 

Let us begin the journey. Vincen and I meet at NAIA 3, then we fly by night on a 5J aircraft. And, we touchdown safely. How dull that sounds considering recent events. Oh, by the way, due to visa-requiring travel of Filipinos to China, there were more foreigners aboard that plane than Filipinos, if I remember correctly. Also we occupy 3 seats each on the latter part of the flight. Pahiga-higa lang.  

Welcome to China, the land of my ancestors. Not so long ago, my grandfather smuggled himself to Philippine soil; I hear of his storytelling, 'twas set in Aparri. Now I am off to where he started. Well technically no, this is Shanghai, where they speak Shanghainese. I don't speak that; we speak Fookien, that vouches for the whole Filipino-Chinese population. If you don't know already, we mostly, if not all, hail from Fujian, China, where Fookien is now almost obsolete. Strange, so who understands Fookien in China nowadays? 

Hey, there's PVG from bird's eye view. Almost there, but not quite yet.

As normal human beings, you would expect us to go through immigration immediately upon disembarkation. Wrong, we are not your average beings. With Vincen and Terence unleashed, anything is possible. The photos below should explain why we exited an hour later. We simply could not resist the temptation of aviation. 

The CA A321, long and sleek as it can be

A beluga EK A380 greeting us welcome to China!

The SU B767 on the loose

For good reason, we established ourselves in the departure halls. And slept at the airport. And slept at the airport. AND SLEPT AT THE AIRPORT! A check on my bucket list! Who knows it might just happen again. 

The Terminal ft. Vincen Gregory Yu

Access to the city center has never been more convenient. We actually stayed overnight to catch the first departure of the MAGLEV or Magnetic Levitation train. With a roundtrip price of 80 RMB, speeds can reach up to 400 km/hr, what more can you ask? 

Enter mother China! All hail!