Thru The Lens

Seems like ages since I’ve last posted anything. To warm up back this little blog, let me post about a week stay in Guangzhou, China.

Girlguide

Introducing the map reading babe aka the occasionally reliable guide and great companion.

Without her I’d be practically lost in China and not to mentioned bored to death especially during those monotonous rides to the city centre.

The map also detail the bus and MRT routes.

Village

The place where I stayed, I wouldn’t deemed it as a village as in the ‘kampung’ sense where they are coconut trees and houses made of wood; no.

The cute and pretty house cat.. miao miao miao~~

One can see medium scale industry such as timber, wood products – doors, tables and bed frames; handbags, unfinished leather goods, etc. E-bike (bicycle running on rechargeable battery) is a popular transport.

There is also a big clinic nearby the market. There are plenty of eating shops available and even a small hypermarket.

Public transports comprise of motorbikes and buses (~RMB 3 / RM 1.5) that would adequately connect you to other places such as the Guangzhou city centre where it is efficiently connected through MRT (RMB 5-10 / RM 2 – 5) and feeder buses. Unfortunately the train runs underground so there’s nothing much to see. That’s why hours of traveling underground could be boring.

There, people with the same surname stays in a particular village. Ours is the “Yang” village. So everyone in the village is Mr./Mrs/Ms. Yang. Lol.. But afraid not, they are influx of ‘outside’ people coming into the village, mainly for work, and vice versa. So if you’re a youngster in the village you can still find a partner with a different surname..heh.

Weather

It was suppose to be the end of spring, going into the hot season but as the today’s climate would have it, weather around the world has gone a little off timing. The first two days were chilling despite the temperature being 20-22 deg C. The last three days were okay. When it’s cold, bathing is not  enjoyable but made bearable by the ‘furnace’ (water heater). It runs on gas as oppose to electricity. Mind you, it’s as good as the electric water heater, complete with volume and temperature control.

Food

Compared to Malaysia, some food taste nicer, some not as good. Generally, the flavour is similar. Food in the village can be delicious and cheap. For example, 4 ample bowls of noodles cost about RMB 20 – that’s RM10 with change! Unsuccessful to find pork burger in KFC or McD (we thought they have it, no? hmmm…)

The reunion dinners cum karaoke + mahjong sessions

Language & People

The people in Guangzhou speaks Cantonese by large, also Mandarin and swearing is pretty common too. Sometimes they use it as conjunctions in their sentences. Even old lady curses. Now I know where the bad words originated from.

You don’t want to mess with the old lady on the right cause she can be very fierce but she’s a great host and even gave up her wooden mosquito netted bed for us.

She’s generally a humorous person, who’s tongue in cheek kind of joker. At her age, she’s still very sharp and hears well too but aches at her joints due to old age and many years of hard work in the paddy field. Indeed it is true, when they say Chinese people are not that civic minded (yet). We experienced the ‘culture’ in more than one occasion in various places. For instance, they don’t expect you to use their toilet if you’re not a customer and they have no qualms about scolding you if you did so. They might even tell you with a straight face about not having a toilet in a properly built hypermarket. They will stand by the doors of the train like they’re about to run for the Olympics gold medal and when the train arrives, rush in and lay whatever they have in hand to occupy seats for their partners. The same scenario would happen in a bus. Speaking of which, don’t expect them to queue to board a bus. While fighting your way into the bus, you should also protect yourself from being elbowed, especially on the face. Generally, they are not friendly to strangers. Do not expect courteous smiles or welcomes and thank yous from their services, even from airport staff. Some work like they’ve been under pressure or gotten out from the wrong side of the bed (perhaps they did…hmmm…)

Activities / Places

Went to the nearby market every other day for breakfast, buy snacks, clothes or just to look around.

Such seems to be the life of the people in the village – to visit the market and buy groceries, everyday.

Went to the overpriced (RMB 200/RM90/USD30) but nevertheless worthy zoo.

Like other zoos (except our own deplorable zoo negara), Chime Long Zoo is well kept, clean, spacious and the animals look well fed.

A banana for her effort instead of cuddly toy…whuahahahaha~

The biggest attraction for us was of course the very cuddly cutie panda.

After that we went to the croc farm although not much time to explore as it was getting late.

Chime Long has a theme park nearby the zoo too. There are various packages to choose from but I would say they are rather expensive. If it’s fun it might be worth it.

Went to a shopping place ala ‘petaling street’. Depending on your style and preference, you might get a good bargain on anything ranging from accessories to boots.

Also went to some parks (FOC).