CHINA
Country Overview:
"A land of contrasts, where ancient traditions meet rapid modernization, and delectable cuisine coexists with complex political realities."
My seven-year journey in China, from May 2013 to August 2020, was a whirlwind of experiences. I taught English, pursued my Master's in Politics & Foreign Policy at the prestigious Tsinghua University, and immersed myself in the media landscape at China Today and Xinhua News Agency. Beijing was my home base, but my travels painted a vibrant tapestry of China's diverse landscapes and cultures: the bustling metropolis of Shanghai, the historic city of Xi'an, the tropical paradise of Sanya, the unique blend of East and West in Macau and Hong Kong, and countless other destinations in between. From savoring the exquisite flavors of regional cuisines to navigating the intricacies of daily life under a distinct political system, China left an indelible mark on me.
Women's Day
Women's Day was a couple of days ago and Tsinghua campus was covered in these banners proclaiming love for girls or saying nice things about women in general.
Give it a rest
As I sit in Subway (restaurant), multiple people, when at the veggie stage, are saying "I want this, I don't want that", which is completely unnecessary. Just say what you want and move on! I could understand if they said "I want everything, except_____". But no, they are going row by row and choosing yes or no. If this doesn't explain Chinese people's inefficiency, I don't know what does
I just moved apartments this morning and then headed to work leaving a mess of a room. Please excuse my irritability.
Over and over
Maintenance. That necessary annoyance that we all make time for. Figuring out where in our busy schedules we have 20 minutes to drop something off at the store or pick something up in order to solve our problem. A pipe breaks, a cable frays, something goes *pop*. The unexpected happens and we either figure it out or we don't. We solve it or we accept the loss. We complain or we quietly accept what my father always said, "There are 2 rules in life. Rule 1: Life's not fair. Rule 2: Can't do anything about the first rule".
Spring Festival
As Chinese New Year comes to a close, I wish everyone a happy year of the Monkey!
So Close..
This is what almost making it into the Forbidden City looks like. Went in the wrong entrance (Palace Museum), took me 35 minutes to find an exit and loop back around, and by that time, tickets were sold out. 80.000 tickets sold between 8:30-11:30, so I settled on noodles and baozi. If you look carefully at the noodles, you can see the ever-present peace sign that Chinese people throw up in almost every picture.
Summer Palace - Beijing
Since everything is closed during Spring Festival, and everyone returns to their hometowns, seemed like an ideal time to check out the new Summer Palace. This place is actually pretty big. Full of tea rooms, temples, places to hangout, guard towers, with a giant lake located in the middle. I bet this would have been a pretty legit place to come chill at back in the day. Now it's full of Chinese tourists, selfie sticks, and people commenting on me wearing shorts. Come on guys, 11 degrees Celsius isn't that cold.
Trip Itinerary
Philippines
- Manila
- Angeles
- Batangas
- Sabang
- Caticlan
- Boracay
- Iloilo
- Cebu
- Boljoon
- Oslob
- Samboan
Here's how it was done. Flew into Manila, went up to Angeles for 2 days, then back to Manila by bus. From there we bussed it down to Batangas (basically a commuter city) because boats left from there to Sabang. Sayang was awesome, which we had stayed there longer. Then we took a ferry to Cataclan, and then caught a small boat to Boracay. Returned to Cataclan by boat then took a bus to Iloilo. Next day we took an overnight ferry to Cebu, stayed a night, then caught a bus to Boljoon. Really secluded little area, great hostel, not much else. Motorbiked to Oslob to swim with whale sharks and then further down to Samboan to check out the waterfalls. Bus back up to Cebu and flew out of there to Singapore.
Singapore
- Singapore
Malaysia
- Kuala Lumpur
Indonesia - Bali Island
- Kuta
- Gili T
- Ubud
Shoutout goes to Garuda Airlines for having exceptional service and nice facilities for an economy class flight. It also might have helped that there were only 15 other people on the plane.
I also swam with whale sharks in Philippines so I'll work on rendering those videos and posting them shortly
