The China Trip Account

Alright, here are the pics of my trip to China! :) I know, Carlo and Drew has been asking me to upload them already. :) hehe :) I took 260 pics, but i will just be removing a few, or else it would take a more than this evening to upload all these pictures. :) hehe :) Actually, i have been trying to upload these pics for the past three to four nights, but we always have to go out, or if not, brother is using the net. But alas, with my brother's cooperation today, the uploading of the pics is done. :) Whew! :)

Also included is, i guess, a day-by-day account as to where we were at a certain date. Well, i can't be exact. I am just basing the day-by-day account on the pictures as well as the key holder/folder thing i kept every single night we stayed at every single hotel for the each of the ten days. One night, we were in one hotel, the next day we're in another one. It's one heck of a "road trip", but we also rode in some boats, as you'll see later. :)

The tour group was composed of 12 people: Me, my mom and dad, my aunt Helen and uncle Alberto (mom's brother), my uncle's friends: Uncle Jaime, and his wife aunt Tess with their children Guinnevere(?), highschool student, and Geraldine (incoming grade 1), aunt esther, and aunt Violeta with her daughter, Reah, already working, and to whom i felt the closest to after the trip. ["Reah, if you're reading this, 'Hi!'"] :)

The last ten pictures in this series of pictures were taken by Reah. :) Thanks Reah! :) The last one is the most memorable. Haha :)

Oh, Reah, if you want the original file of the pic, just email me. :) all the pics uploaded here are automatically to 1024x768, meaning lower resolution, but enough to be easily viewed well online. :)

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March 18 (Friday)
Left early in the morning for the early morning flight. We were up by 3am and left by 430am. so i guess that the flight was around 6am something. We arrived at Shanghai around 10am (3- to 4-hour flight). We were slightly delayed in leaving the airport because of the baggages of our tour group was missing (the luggage was owned by Geraldine and Guinnevere. they didn't have any clothes and had to buy some for use for the next 3 days). We weren't able to find or get it that day.

Once we got out of baggage claim, we were met by our tour guide and his wife, at which time we reported about the missing luggage. After that, we took the Maglev (Magnetic something train) train up to the end of its line. After that, we took a coaster bus to lunch. After lunch, we visited a garden. I took a lot of pics, flowers, stones and such. After that, we walked around some more at the surrounding area, because the garden was inside this shopping district ( i guess the place, in the past, was some sort of shopping area or living area. I guess we can compare it to a barangay in the Philippines.).

We went to the hotel, and rested for a while. After that, we had our dinner at a restaurant. After dinner, we had a boat trip along a river in Shanghai. I took some more pictures but they didn't come up really good because it's either it's too dark or i was too far away from the object/building. the ground deck of the boat allowed people to sit down and just watch the passing buildings/scenery(?) in a climate-controlled room (there was a heating unit inside. to tell you the truth, it being spring, it was still somewhat cold outside. Temperatures ranged from 4 centigrade to 20 Centigrade at any given day. It depends, but more or less that's the range of temperature almost everywhere we went.) I decided to go to the upper deck and stayed there for most of the trip. :) It was cold, yes, especially because of the wind. But i stayed there. a lot of Japanese were there and i was listening to their "talk" while i was up there, trying to see if i could understand what they were saying. I understood a few words, due to my really limited vocabulary, and probably a few phrases and that's it. a japanese girl accidentally pushed me and she came back quickly to say "gomendasai" (forgive my romaji) "I'm sorry" before she left.

After that, we walked back to the bus and were brought back to the hotel (Ramada Plaza Shanghai). My parents and i went out for a mini-food shopping that night, to also buy some more bottled water. :)

March 19 (Saturday)
We left early, real early. Ah, we were to get on a plane for LamHai, after which we took a short coaster bus ride to a river to take a boat ride to get to the island where there was a lot of temple. My aunt said that it was at least to pray first before going on and enjoying the rest of the trip. (my mom has been taking such trips to LamHai every year, around this time of the year, for like around 3 to 4 years already.) Before we can ride the boat, we were herded into these lounge area that is subdivided into 4 or 6 areas by steel railings, sort of their way to control the people and the number of people to be boarded into the boats, which will go first and such.

Once we arrived at the island, we were brought to our hotel for the day. I actually saw a cactus plant in the c.r. when i went there to accompany my mom. I took a pic of it because i wanted to show my sister how "big" it was compared to her cactus plants back home. :) There were some other weird plants/flowers outside the hotel that we took pictures of as well. They kind of looked like vegetables, but then they are used there as ornamental plants. Hmmm... I dunno. :)

We went to the temple and went around each little temple in that compound of small temples. Like before (i went to LamHai once before with my mom), there were a lot of people, burning incense and such. Instead of burning incense and trying to squeeze into the crowd, our group agreed that "Bai-ing" (palms together as in prayer) in front of the temple, uttering our prayers, will be enough since the gods will hear us anyway, if we pray with a sincere heart. It was easier that way. :)

We had lunch at the hotel restaurant. And that day, my aunt started complaining about certain things.... Well, in a way, it was our right to complain if things were not up to standard since we did pay for the trip and everything that comes with it that were charged to us like food, lodging, the entrance fees to places we visited, transportation, and such.

anyway, after lunch, we went and walked towards to this peak of LamHai where there is this Guan-Yin-Ma perched at one of the highest point of LamHai. Aside from picture taking, my aunt, uncle and the others in the group went up to "Bai" for a while, as did my mom. While praying for the lost baggage, Geraldine said she heard something or probably in her head, telling her that the baggage will be found. Of course, that was weird and creepy, but i looked forward to it to see if it will come true. :) Anyway, after that, we walked and visited some more temples, during which we prayed some more and took more pictures. :) after that, we did some mini-shopping. I guess after that, we waited for the coaster bus to take us back to the hotel for dinner. :)

We did discuss who will be attending the morning prayers that next day, meaning waking up early, around 3am, to attend a 5am prayer at the temple. well, my Uncle Albert and aunt Helen went, as well as Aunt Tess, Uncle Jaime, my mom, aunt ester, aunt violeta and Reah (who went to observe the proceedings that morning). my dad, Geraldine, Guinny and I were left to wake up at a later time, to meet the others for breakfast.

March 20 (Sunday)
Okay! The others went for the early morning prayer at the temple. We met at the restaurant that morning for breakfast around 8am i guess. Reah was sharing about her observations at the temple when one of the people attending, while prostrating(kneeling and upper body bowing forward, toward the ground with both hands in level of the head), fell asleep. :) Just imagine that. I can't stop laughing. :)

After breakfast, i guess we left the hotel to catch the boat that will bring us back on track for the trip. We were dropped off to walk for around 10 minutes to the pier where we waited for the boat. the roads to the pier was closed that day since there were festivities that day and a lot of people were there. We waited in a lounge area up until around 10am, by which time we were called to board the boat.

The boat ride was around 2 hours, i think. I had a hard time sleeping, since it was noisy where i was sitting, near the engine i think. I wanted to vomit, but i know i can't. It felt so hot, nauseating. My head throbbed. I just wanted to get out and get some air! BUt i waited. When we arrived on land, how happy i was to gulp in the cool air. Whew! We took another coaster bus ride to NingBo to go eat at a restaurant. We took some pictures while we were there. I think the whole building is a restaurant. There are a lot of dining rooms there, good for 12 people in each room, to give the people in each dining room privacy. I think it was called "Lao Ban Niang" or, how do i translate it to English, "(Female) Boss" Restaurant. actually, based on the pic i took, the place was called Lebanner Restaurant. :)

After lunch, we continued on our coaster bus ride for the hotel. i think we arrived around 4pm. And you know what, when we arrived at the hotel, the missing luggage was already found and was shipped to our hotel. :) [what Geraldine heard came true!] I slept until it was time for us to leave for dinner. During dinner, my aunt did make her legitimate complaints again. After that, we went back to the hotel (ShaoXing International Hotel). The hotel was not bad. i did see some foreigners there.

March 21 (Monday)
We thought we were going to have a continental breakfast but were told to go to the other restaurant in the hotel with more of an oriental breakfast. well, i remembered my aunt complaining about this, and so the next day, we had our continental breakfast at the other restaurant. :) hehe :) We toured ShaoXing for the day.

We toured around two places for the morning, i think. The first to a place where there were made made caves across a man-made canal. We took a short boat ride. Each boat was paddled a person using his/her feet and then they steered the boat using a paddle they hold with their hands. During the boat ride (3 passengers in each boat), we were told not to move much. but still, we took some picture. While walking back to the exit, we took more pictures. My aunt kept on saying that i should take more pictures so that one day when i get married, i have a lot of pictures. :o The second place was the area where a certain person named LuXun grew up. It seems that whenever somebody because famous, they keep that place as a national park/heritage place. :) Inside, we were toured at the different room in the house(compound) of LuXun's home and that of his teacher as well. As i remembered, this was also where my dad bought a fan upon which some of LuXun's philosophies where handwritten by an old man using chinese calligraphy. We saw him working on other fans and he is really good. We also stopped by at a wine-making place. (The wine actually tasted like vinegar!) :o

After that, i guess we had lunch. After that, we visited another garden or old home compound. I just took more picture. I think this place was once visited by the emperor of China. we also fed the ducks there. :) By the time we arrived at the next location, it was already raining. We still kept on taking more pictures anyway. :) hehe :) it was a nice walk, much more pleasant if it weren't raining. but anyway, we kinda enjoyed the walk and we took a group pic before we left. :)

After that, i guess we went to eat dinner. After dinner, we dropped my aunt Helen, my mom, aunt esther and Rhea at a nearby shopping district. :) Most of us went back to the hotel. I watched tv as i waited until aunt esther (my room mate for the rest of the trip) arrived (which means the others had also returned from their shopping spree), after which i was able to go to bed. :)

March 22 (Tuesday)
I was supposed to wake up early, but then my cellphone alarm didn't go off because i thought the cellphone battery can still make it up to this morning. Anyway, i was still on time for breakfast and for taking out the luggage for the bellboys to get them. After breakfast, we left for WenZhou. It was another long coaster bus ride during the morning. Once in WenZhou, we ate lunch first. Then we visited two places there (which also meant we did a lot of walking and climbing of stairs - more of liked we hiked). There comes in more picture taking. The tour guide explained how some of the rock formations looked like some animal or human. i dunno. some i was able to imagine, other, i just took a pic. :)

we did arrive at a place where there is a waterfall. but since it was rainy that day, with overcast skies (dark clouds above), the pictures i took at the falls were not that good, especially with the combination of the camera's flash. oh well. One can also see the different spots where drops of water were on the lens. the first trip was a climb to a temple, the second one was a climb to a waterfall.

Pretty tired, we went back to the same restaurant where we had lunch to have our dinner. My uncle Alberto and my dad chose some seafood they had in their aquariums to be added to our meal that night. :) After dinner was another long coaster bus ride to the hotel (WenZhou International Hotel). My aunt complained about the smell of cigarette in the rooms and we had to wait for almost an hour or so, until something was done about it and we went back to our respective rooms.

March 23 (Wednesday)
AFter breakfast, we toured the WenZhou area during the morning. We rode on bamboo rafts steered by an old man through the river. there were areas in the river, sort of like mini- or shallow waterfalls. :) MOst of us got wet from the water rushing through the bamboo poles of the raft whenever we would go down those shallow waterfalls. :) After that, we went to another old town, surrounded by arable farmland. I remembered this was the time when our tour guide, Mr. Chen, had dropped Rhea's camera. (Rhea and I both own a Canon Powershot A80). Grrr..... But at least the camera is still working fine. For the past few days, up until the end of the trip, whenever we were in an area where there are water, i would always jokingly tell Rhea that i will push her to the water or that i would accidentally trip and pull her with me to the water. :) hehe :) I guess, aside from having the same camera and my joking around/"pangungulit", though we didn't talk much during the first few days, we in a way got closer during the latter half of the trip, when we got to talk about more stuff during a certain boat ride with a scenic view. :)

After this, we ate lunch. Then came a long coaster bus ride until we stopped at a shoe store, where i ended up buying new shoes, and my mom buying a belt for her younger brother, my uncle Ernesto. And then, there was another long ride towards JinHua. We arrived at JinHua around 7pm. We stopped by at the hotel to meet with the JinHua tour guide. (Actually, whenever we reached a new area, we always have a new tour guide.) We then went to eat dinner, after which we went back to the hotel (World Trade Hotel) for the night.

March 24 (Thursday)
Early in the morning, my aunt played a prank. She hid the hair dryer in a low cabinet in the room such that when the hotel people were checking if some stuff are missing from their room, the hotel people find the hair dryer. It took another hours before all were cleared, and the hotel people were able to find the hair dryer, therefore apologizing to us for delay. I actually didn't like being apologized to, especially since it was my aunt's prank. Another incident was Aunt Tess and Uncle Jaime took the Laundry bag of the hotel. Usually these laundry bags are given for free, but not for this hotel. They were able to get the other bag back, but for the other one, since their luggage was deep down in the stack at the back of the bus, they decided to pay for instead. With all problems resolved, we left an hour late for the day's "sightseeing".

I think this was the worst day i had out of the ten-day trip. First we were brought to a shopping area which is not really a shopping area but rather a wholesale store for toys, ornaments, etc.... Anyway, we just waited, though my aunt did get to buy some toys for her grandchildren. Then we were taken to a Taoist temple. I really wanted to go to the washroom, but since it was awfully dirty there, i had to wait until the next stop. It was another hour before we arrived at the next stop, at an old village where the restaurant we were having our lunch in and the next "old town" we will be visiting were situated. The restaurant's C.r. wasn't that clean either, but i think it was much better than the CR in the Taoist temple. One can say that it was the worst place to eat lunch, but anyway, i didn't mind it that much. We actually complained, and it was also when the area tour guide accidentally told us that our meals are already prepared to be worth 300 yuan, 30 yuan for each person.

anyway, we walked around the old town. I actually tried one of their fortune-telling method there where i had 5 old coins in my hand and the old guy there would interpret based on the area where the coins i was holding fell onto. He gave me a paper which described different aspects of my life based on where the coins fell on the board.

After that, we went to this place where we had to climb up a steep flight of stairs so that we could take a cable car ride for two people up towards a temple that you have to continue to climb up to through some more flight of stairs. the others went up and up, but my mom and dad and i, as well as aunt esther and Uncle Alberto, stayed behind at one of the sitting areas halfway from the cable car stop area and the temple. We took pictures instead. :) After that, since we were the last people arriving and leaving the place, the people who worked there also took the cable car down with us. Once back down, i took some more pictures as we waited for the others who went to the washrooms. After this was probably an hour or two hour ride to JianDe.

Our hotel at JianDe, JinMao Hotel, was beside the river as we found out upon arrival during the late afternoon. Though not that good, it was ok. :) they had computers in the room that allowed free internet access. Rhea and Guinny were able to surf the net, but alas, i wasn't able to do so because, based on my observation and tinkling with the computer, i think the cable is no good. They didn't know how to rememdy it either, changing the CPU thrice already, and still to no avail. I told them that i don't want to trouble them anymore since i will be leaving in the morning anyway. Oh well. I guess it was meant to be that i wouldn't be able to check my mails during that night. :)

March 25 (Friday)
It was sister's birthday, and i reminded about this. We texted my sister a birthday greeting. :)

After breakfast, we took another long coaster bus ride to a port area at the JianDe. At the port area, we boarded a boat where we stayed in the for the rest of the morning, lunch and until the early part of the afternoon. During the morning, my mom, dad and i went up to the open upper deck. It wasn't that cold up there because of the sun. We just took pictures. Uncle Jaime and Geraldine came a while after, and went back down to the main deck after that. Reah and her mom came up as well. This was the day when Reah and I were able to discuss a lot of things even in such a short boat ride (actually it was long one since we were in the boat late morning to the early afternoon). :) How we were both always caught unaware by the blast of the blaring bullhorn at the upper deck of the ship while we were talking! We always ended up covering our ears with our hands while laughing. :)

Before lunch, we stopped by this "island" where there was this little temple. We just went by that place. AFter that, we took a picture at that island, after which we boarded the boat again. And then, it was time for lunch, and you guessed it, we had it in the boat. :) After lunch, we had another stop at a different area where there was another waterfall. We walked. when we reached the hydro power station, my parents and aunt esther opted to stay behind and not join the upward climb/hike to the waterfalls that help generate electricity for that area. We crossed a metal bridge towards the other side, but it was narrow and was scary. I actually wanted to go the CR but that was not the place (i hated it in a way because the flow of water seem to urge one to want to pee all the more!). Anyway, i continued the upward climb, though i thought i wouldn't make it. But the climb was worth. Of course, it was picture-taking time. After that, there was a long hike down and then we had to cross another bridge, one that swings/rocks side to side with every move. Rhea and I waited until we were the only ones so that we can take some pictures. :)

Back at the boat, Rhea, her mom and I went straight to the boat's CR. After that, we went straight to the upper deck. Rhea and i continued our discussion (and some picture taking) during the remainder of the boat ride until we reached the next port area where our coaster bus was waiting. During the boat ride, there was always the usual blast of the bullhorn whenever there was a little boat in front of the one we were on. But we continued to stay up there until we docked at the port area.

It was then another coaster bus ride for an hour or so, until we arrived at HangZhou. HangZhou is a beautiful place. but then we were rushing that afternoon, since we arrived around 4pm in the afternoon and the boat we were to ride were waiting for us. During the boat ride, we just enjoyed the view, though we have to stand up during the early part of the boat ride since we were late. I took some pictures, my uncle borrowed my camera to take some pictures. :) Rhea and I had a short talk.

After the boat ride, we took a short walk at the HangZhou park. Of course, we took more pictures. :) After this, we went to have dinner (of course, my aunt complained again). After dinner, i guess we went straight to the hotel(HangZhou Sunny Hotel). Of course, the rooms smelled of paint. i remembered that. :) they were renovating some level of the hotel.

March 26 (Saturday)
The next day, we were leaving for JiaXing. I actually wasn't feeling good during the late morning up to late in the afternoon. When we left HangZhou, we were stucked in traffic for almost half an hour or so. Then we arrived at another little old town that we(me, my parents and my siblings) have already gone to 2 years ago. my parents, aunt tess and Aunt esther stayed behind in the coaster bus. i still went with them so that i could at least walk around for a while before the dysmenorrhea kicks in. After the old town tour was done, the pain was escalating. I didn't feel good at all during lunch time, and it seems so cold that day (and i always feared the cool weather whenever i have my dysmenorrhea).

After lunch was another long coaster ride to the next place, approximately 2 hours of travel. At the next place, we had another boat ride. Thankfully, the pain had subsided already and i was at least able to enjoy the short boat ride. We took some pictures while in the boat, when we arrived at the center "island" there, and again while we were on the boat on the way back to where the boat trip started from. On the way back, Rhea went out to the back of the boat first. I followed. Then came Uncle Jaime and Geraldine. we walked along the side of the boat, knocking on the glass windows to surprise our parents. :) We took a picture of us (Rhea, I and Geraldine) while were at the back of the boat. Geraldine and I went for another walk by the side of the boat to knock of the glass windows again to surprise her parents. :)

Back at the bus, we were then brought to our hotel (SunShine Hotel). There was a wedding reception taking place there that day. :) Once at the hotel, around 630pm, we went down to eat dinner (actually, we thought we were going out because the tour guide, Mr. Chen, didn't tell us that we were to have our dinner at the hotel restaurant at the second level.) After dinner, my mom and I, aunt Helen, aunt Tess and Guinny, and aunt violeta and Reah, went to the nearby shopping building of the hotel to look around for a while. My mom and I bought some socks (those with the fittings for the toe and such). :) there wasn't much since the shop was already near closing time. After that short time of looking around, we went back to our rooms, but only after my mom got to buy the gold-plated chicken display thing at the hotel's lobby shop which my aunt had bargained with the salesperson. hehe :) My aunt is really good when it comes to bargaining. :)

Once at our room, i had to re-pack the contents of my luggage to make space for the gold-plated chicken display. Luckily, i was able to accomodate it in my baggage. :) i just had to move some toiletries to my mom's/dad's luggages. :)

March 27 (Sunday)
After breakfast was another long trip back to Shanghai but we stopped at a few places, old towns again, before lunch, before the trip to Shanghai.

Late in the morning, after a coaster bus ride, we arrived at another old town. We actually got bored on going from one old town to another. The only special thing about this place is that it was where a Sim family was located that was able to make money there. (My mom, before she got married, and my uncle's surname is Sim. Get it?) :) Anyway, after that, we got lost it that little town because of our tour guide Mr. Chen. It was also so crowded that day, being a weekend.

Anyway, on the way back to the coaster bus, my parents and the other parents bought some cooked pork leg (pata, in filipino) that were put into a vacuum-sealed pack. We then stopped by a nearby hotel to eat dinner. At around exactly 1pm, we left for Shanghai. We arrived at Shanghai around late in the afternoon. We asked to be taken to a place for shopping. We were brought to a flea market. I mean it would be fine but then there were too many people. Rhea and Aunt Tess managed to buy something, but the rest of us waited until the hour was up so that we could go back to the coaster bus. I guess my aunt is used to shopping at the big shopping areas, much cultured or more probably a much comfortable place to buy stuff from since we're used to it. Anyway, we asked that we be given the refund for the night's dinner as well as the next day's lunch so that we would have more time to shop by ourselves, therefore not having to take any more two-hour trip just to eat a meal.

So that night, we spent the late afternoon for a walk in a shopping establishment. then my uncle alberto, aunt violeta, Reah and I met with aunt esther, aunt Helen, my mom and my dad at that building for dinner. AFter dinner, my parents stayed behind because my dad bought shoes and later on my mom bought some clothes. After lookinng for my mom and dad and being told that we move along and that they will be going home by themselves, i left with my aunt, aunt esther, aunt violeta, and Reah for a walk and window shopping along the different shopping establishments at Nanjing Road up until 10 in the evening. My feet hurt that night! Oh well. Reah and I agreed to drink milkshake the next day at McDonald's (she was thinking of having a sundae but since it late at night, and she did mention milkshake, and i happen to like milkshake... :)) Tired travellers as we were, we went back to our hotel (Ramada Plaza Shanghai).

March 28 (Monday)
We woke up, had breakfast, and went our own ways. this day, my aunt Helen, Uncle Alberto, and Aunt Esther, took an earlier flight for Xiamen. I stayed behind during the early morning so that i could help out in carrying Aunt Esther's baggage for this day since no bell service was to be sent. when they had gone, my parents and i walked went to some shops along Nanjing Road.

When we were all tired, we stopped by at a noodle shop for lunch. Each of us had a large bowl of noodles of which each of us were able to finish eating. After that, we stopped by a nearby food mall for some bread to bring as snacks while in the airport.

When the baggages were being taken to the lobby, i gave the money that was change for the payment of the spendings incurred by the group during the trip to Aunt Violeta, as told by my Uncle Alberto to do so. It was then that i found out that Rhea already had a milkshake. But anyway, we still went for a quick stop at McDonald's before finally leaving the hotel, me having a milkshake and Rhea a sundae on cone, which we "devoured" as we were on the coaster bus on the way to the international airport.

after the long lines at the check-in counter, and then immigration, we waited until we can board the plane. When already at the plane, our flight was delayed by an hour due to the traffic there at the hangar. We had dinner on the plane and we arrived at the Philippines after 3 hours or so (in-flight movie - Bridget Jones 2: the Edge of Reason), around 10PM. After immigration, baggage claim. Wah!!!! It was time to part!!! :( And so, farewells were said and hugs were given.

My sister came to drive us home. Once home, i had to start unpacking. Being tired, i slept late and woke up the next day later than usual.

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And that's it! :) What a long account! :) And you know what, during the last day of the trip, on the 28th, my dad had the cold. My mom and I were fine. But very next day, the 29th, back at the Philippines, my mom got the cold as well. And not long after, on the 30th, my sister and I got the cold as well. I told my dad that he brought with him a strong virus. We had to warn everyone in the office to take precautions and beware of this "cold virus". And i remember texting Rhea as well. ["Right, Rhea?"] :)

I wrote the following the night of April 5, "Oh well, got to sleep to now. i started writing this account around 9pm something and i finished just now, 04/06/2005, 1:06AM. I haven't even uploaded any pictures yet and didn't even finish downloading the pictures Rhea sent. :o". :)