What I've been up to...

Wow, it has BEEN awhile!

What I've been up to for the past few months:

> I've been in Manila twice this year. It's all because of the cheap Cebu Pacific flights. While I'm thankful that these trips enable me to bond with my family, it sucked the life out of my savings!! One thing I learned..plane fares can go dirt cheap but spending your vacation in the Philippines will make you poor! Hahaha!




> At the first part of this year, I've started investing in the stock market. My good friend Tobal introduced us to the stock market and I decided to start my
retirement fund.

I gained a lot via day trading but also lost some of it in the process. I learned that this was the gambling part. I wisened up and joined the TrulyRichMember group mentored by Bo Sanchez. I'm slowly but surely investing my way to financial independence.

> I've only travelled around China twice this year (so far). Early this year, we went (and regretted) to Frozen Shenyang then to Qingdao around Spring time.




> I've also started my bag collection. My good friend Sam was the one who introduced me to Longchamp, a designer bag entry level. The first time this year I went to Manila, I managed to bring home 3 LC bags then another one when I returned and a Cambridge Satchel. The most expensive to date from my small collection is my first LV - a Damier Ebene Neverfull MM. I already have a wishlist of bags though I'm kinda in a bag ban after all the purchase.




> I've also been neglecting my
other social media (twitter, FB, google plus) bcoz I've been spending most if not all my time at Instgram - you can check out my pics via statigr.am/ditchwitch27.






I guess that's it for now. Me and the BF's cookin' up a business but will share as soon as it's up and running. Until then, you guys keep safe!


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Intoxicating weekend (Qingdao May 2011)

Late post:

We Spent 3 day and 2 nights in an incredible city. It's like Baguio (winding roads) with a beach. Everywhere you go you're either going up (flights of stairs or inclined roads) or going down one.





Taxi drivers don't use their brakes very often which scared us to death. We took a bus once going to the Polar Ocean Park but ended up taking a taxi after it took us to a scenic route but not to our intended destination. The beer was awesome, specially the free ones we got from the Beer Museum. The structures are great because of the European influence - if not for the locals, it's as if you left China and got transported to Germany.










The beaches were so-so; having been to the great ones in the Phils (note: white sand) and all. We didn't get to swim though as the water's not swim-friendly coz of the weather (16-23c).


Overall it was a fun but helluva tiring trip.



We also went to China's Naval Museum where we saw naval ships and a SUBMARINE!!





TRAVEL SITE: "Qingdao, located in the southeast part of Shandong Province, is a beautiful seaside city with clear air and enchanting sea view. This city, bordered by the Yellow Sea on two sides, has the largest bathing beach in Asia and produces the mellow Qingdao Beer. To the east of Qingdao, a short distance across the Yellow Sea, lie Korea and Japan, making the city an important port for international trade."

"For thirty three years, up to 1949, Qingdao was a colony of Germany and Japan. Thus, Qingdao has a great deal of European architecture. This foreign architecture -a remnant of the colonial past- now beautifies this seaside city."

Happy 6th!

6 years...




I could hardly believe we've been together for 6 long years.

Cheers to more adventures together!


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From the fridge to the freezer (Jan2011)

Okay, so we were just itching to really go out of town. It was January of this year, in the midst of a dry winter in Beijing and the fact that train fares to any city in China are starting to get pricier due to the upcoming Chinese NY, we ended up getting tickets to Shenyang, China.

(long overdue post)

We didn't do a lot of research so (I'm not surprised) that we ended up regretting the trip. The train to Shenyang, China only took 5 hours. We thought our usual Beijing winter attire and some added layers would be sufficient to brave the much colder city we were going to but we were so wrong.

The temperature ranged from-26 degrees Celsius to -30 degrees. We thought Beijing was cold but Shenyang was something else. We couldn't even last walking around which we always do when going around the city. Cabs are hard to find so every time we're outside, so while in the city we always ended up indoors. If it were not for the company then our trip would've sucked big time.

Rest of the pictures can be found here.

It's been a while

Wow, didn't realize I haven't written something here for a while.

Have been way busy with work. Haven't been travelling as much as I'd like to.
But it means I get to save more for the raindy days.

Here's a picture when I met up with a former colleague and boss. It feels good to know that there are people willing to keep in touch in spite the distance.






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Location:Beigouyan Hutong,Beijing,China

Chengde Trip Jul10: The Stoopids are back!

Last July 24 and 25, we went on a spur of the moment trip to get out of the sweltering heat of Beijing to the equally hot Chengde.

We left the capital at around 8am via the train station for a 5-hour trip. It's been at least 7 months since we last traveled outside the city and it took a little getting used to riding long distances but the mere thought of being in a new place made it all worthwhile.

We arrived at Chengde around lunch time and considering that we still didn't have a place to stay, it was a blessing that a couple of local ladies spirited us away aboard a private bus together with other tourists to an overpriced hotel.

After checking in, we then rode a bus towards the Chengde Mountain Resort which was right smack in the city. It's sort of like the Summer Palace version in Beijing where past emperors have enjoyed summer and was considered as the largest existing imperial garden at 120CNY a pop. (To read more about Chengde Mountain resort visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chengde_Mountain_Resort)

After a day of walking, renting an electric boat, sweating, playing around in the grass and exhausting ourselves silly, we headed to the train station again to buy our return tickets and had hotpot for dinner.

The next day we were off early to go to the Putuo Zhongcheng Temple. Considering that we only had less than a day to explore the Temple Disneyland of China, we chose Putuo because a: we are pretty sick of temples and will most likely barf if we see any more of them during the trip and b:this temple is a smaller version of the one in Lhasa Tibet. Entrance is 80CNY per person. (http://www.orientalarchitecture.com/china/chengde/putuo-zongcheng.php)

Our trip back to Beijing was a mere 5 hours but since we weren't used to travelling, the time was spent sleeping, looking at the surrounding sceneries, and eating.

Here's to more trips this year..hopefully.

December trip

We've been planning to go on a trip ever since we realized it's more than 2 months since our last trip. For 2009 we have been travelling almost every two months. It took us awhile to decide on where to go and we made last minute reservation for a plane ticket from Beijing to Hangzhou then from Shanghai to Beijing.

The plane out of Beijing was located in the outskirts of Beijing. Only China United Airlines doesn't use the Beijing Int'l Airport. Kinda like Tiger Airways in Subic. We got to Hangzhou early in the morning but took a couple of hours getting lost walking around looking for our hotel. Their website boasted that its near the infamous West Lake but of course you can't take everything they say - that we've learned the hard way.

Our first impression of Hangzhou is pretty negative. It's pretty scary place for pedestrians. The cars don't stick to their lanes and hogs the bike lane. The bikes have no choice but to take over the pedestrian lane.

Cabs in Hangzhou are like those in Manila. Don't bother riding first then telling the cabbie where you'e goin..instead, tell them where you're goin then wait for them to agree that they can take you. It's no fun especially during winter time.

West Lake, Hangzhou CH

West Lake is huge and packed with restaurants around it. We just managed to spend our late afternoon to early evening going around West Lake before we booked a tour to Wuzhen water town the next day.

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Wuzhen water townWuzhen Water Town Scenic Area, Wuzhen CH

The group's okay if you can tolerate being herded to deserted shopping malls and silk factories as part of the tour. The water town was nice. It kinda reminded me of Manila when it's flooded. It's like Ilog Pasig minus the basura. There are people still living in this town and they have resorted to selling souvenirs and displaying their laundry outside their anciient windows for all the world to see.
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ShanghaiOriental Pearl TV Tower, Shanghai CH

It's true what other people were saying that you can go around Shanghai in a day. The best one would be the glass observation deck in the Oriental Pearl TV tower. We'd recommend going through the Bund Sight Seeing Tunnel but please just purchase the one way ticket.Bund Sight Seeing Tunnel

Nanjing road - famous shopping street

I didn't really have fear of heights but I actually hesitated when I saw the glass floor which lets you see the city below. It took me a couple of tries and managed to get to the edge by not looking down.

Oriental Pearl TV Tower observation deck

We went to almost all the tourist spots on our first day that we had a hard time finding other places to go. We just went to the Old Shanghai street to buy some souvenirs. I didn't really get to shop save for a cheap leather bag I got in Wuzhen and 3 new scarves to add to my collection. Lol..

Old Shanghai Street

We were so beat once we got out of the Old Shanghai street so we just decided to have a late lunch at a restaurant in Xintiandi. We didn't want to walk some more so we decided to get our stuff from the hotel, take the subway to the Maglev train station. You get a 10kuai discount when riding the Maglev train if you show them your plane ticket. The ride took around 8mins so we were at the airport at around 4.30pm...WAAAY too early for our 8pm flight back to Beijing.

My parents used the money they got for early retirement to fully renovate our house. We should have put up a 2nd floor.

I have been feeling a little guilty when I've ignored my mom's messages on YM the week before Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) struck. I was feeling a bit of a recluse and didn't want to talk to anyone. That Saturday morning I was busy exchanging SMS with the local police about my residence permit. I just got back from the police station when I saw a whole lotta tweets about the typhoon and how some areas were starting to get flooded.

I stayed glued in front of my laptop checking the news and Julius Babao's tweets proved to be a big help during that time. When I finally heard that almost all of Cainta was submerged, I immediately tried calling our landline and my mom's cell but couldn't reach anyone. As the news started escalating and I was listening to DZMM's live streaming, I was so crazy with worry not being able to get in touch with anyone from my family. Our house didn't have a second floor so if the news says houses were submerged then it really scared me.

I saw a ray of hope when I finally saw my uncle (who lives near my parents) go online. Turned out he got stuck in the office and couldn't get home. That's where I heard the news that my siblings and helper were the only ones home and they weren't able to save anything because the water rose quickly they had no choice but to evacuate. They had to go over the wall at the side of our house and walk across neighbors roofs to get to the one house kind enough to offer them shelter. I cried at that instance - thankful that I finally got word on what's happening and at the same time helpless because I'm so far away to help. My parents were stuck somewhere in Bataan and had to stay there for the night.

That whole weekend I wasn't able to get in touch with anyone from my family. It was only my uncle whom I was able to speak with coz my mom would SMS him once in a while just to check on things. I was so scared my siblings won't have any food and honestly I was so devastated that our only house was destroyed. My books..my books! It was the only collection I treasured above all things and I can't accept that Ondoy destroyed everything.

I couldn't eat and had to force myself to sleep during that weekend. It wasn't until Tuesday that I finally got in touch with my mom. Thankfully I didn't cry but I can clearly hear how shocked my mom was that all our stuff are gone and we have to start from scratch.

I told her it didn't matter as long as they're all safe. Already a lot of friends came to our house to give food, clothing and stuff to sleep on, and some even helped clean our house. I gotta say, in spite of all the bad things people say about the Philippines, in times of crises, heroes emerge and people unite to help those in need.

In spite of what happened, I'm so so so thankful that none got hurt. It taught my family to stay strong and believe that together we will be able to rebuild what was lost.

New Fascinations

Last Saturday, we decided to get a foot massage and cupping. Clearly this was my first time to try it here in China. I only get treated every time I'm in Manila coz I know it's safe. As for the cupping, curiosity got the best of me.If you double click on the picture above, you'll see that the prices are really cheap. But notice the 'Maintenance Renal' treatment. I had to suppress my laugh and asked my Chinese friend, Susy what it meant. The treatment is something for the kidneys - 'nuff said.

We had the foot massage for 28RMB ($4) and the cupping treatment for the same price. Really cheap considering that it's fairly hard to find a reputable place (that doesn't require you to pay an arm and a leg) like these that doesn't offer "extra services".

Photo courtesy of Essence Health

Cupping refers to an ancient Chinese practice in which a cup is applied to the skin and the pressure in the cup is reduced (by using change in heat or by suctioning out air), so that the skin and superficial muscle layer is drawn into and held in the cup.

Photo courtesy of Learn Acupuncture

The picture above does look scary when you think about but it felt like being given kiss marks. Teehee. Once the 14 cups were on my back, I could hardly move. They leave the cups for 15 minutes then you end up with circular marks on your back. It definitely alleviated some of the back pains I was having plus my back looks like Keanu Reeves' in the Matrix. The marks or subcutaneous bruising will be gone in about a weeks' time.

They say that the part of your back with darker bruising mean it's your problem area and that the cup was able to remove a lot of 'bad' or 'cold' air.

===I'm a late bloomer when it comes to puzzles. Just last Sunday, we managed to buy some real cheap 3d puzzles. I managed to finish the 3d puzzle of the Great Wall of China in one sitting.

Someone told me that puzzles aren't supposed to be finished in one sitting but I'm excused as this is the first time I'm doing it. As of writing, I was already able to finish a 3d puzzle version of the Tiananmen Sqaure and St. Basil's Cathedral.

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I got this notebook from the Toy Market just behind HongQiao Market. They sell really cute notebooks but this was the one I bought.

I haven't written on it yet as I'm having a hard time thinking on what to write lest I waste this pretty pretty notebook.

I'm thinking to use this instead once I finally go and study Chinese with Hazel.

Wanderlust

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” - Jawaharial Nehru