All my out of country trips are memorable. Even if I have been in a place several times, there always is a special moment for each of them.
I have never been to Guangzhou before but right at the start of the trip, it has become memorable. As I said, it took me forever to get there. And since my trip was a Sunday, I experienced first hand how China is top gun in the world's population.
I was not really alone. I did my trek to Guangzhou alone but thank God I was with an officemate. This is Eric. He did tons of projects for P&G before and for that, was a seasoned Guangzhou traveler. He took the less adventurous route and got there by plane. It was a good 2.5 hr plane ride from Manila.
We practically just had 2 full days in the city so we did not have the time really explore. But since Eric was already a regular, I trusted his instincts. He picked Beijing Road as the place to go to.
He made the right choice. Uniqlo was on sale.
And so was Giordano. A lot more stores were on sale.
This trip had very, very good timing. Ended up with 2 bags of pasalubong.
The place also had a bit of historical displays. They have portions where you are able to see the very old (ancient, I presume) streets on which Beijing Road stands. These I love.
We left Guangzhou and proceeded to Hongkong via the train. Given that it was a Tuesday, it was less crowded... I got the chance to see how nice their train terminal is. It looks like SM. How I wish we have something like this.
I liked my short stay in Guangzhou. The climate -- no problem... same as Manila, hot and humid. The language -- no problem, one will survive as long as you stay in a well-known hotel, have a bit cash and have a credit card that works. The people -- the colleagues whom we deal with are super nice and professional. The city -- I have only seen it once but I felt like it has gone a very, very long way.
Given the chance, I will go back to Guangzhou.
There you go...
I now have number 2. Isn't it lovely?
It has been a long time since I last traveled alone... Alone as in no Hubby, little boy or family. When I learned that I would get back to the "business trip business" with my new job (yes, I have a new one), it was a welcome thought for me. And I would be traveling within Asia so this it would be a good break-in.
I try my best to travel light, not because I would want to be business-like. I do it... just in case... I... buy a lot. All in one medium-sized bag for a one week trip. I never forget my goodies for overseas contacts, of course (Curly Tops and Mango Balls!).
First time to travel with another airline from Manila. I have been a loyal PAL fan because of family... but this time, I flew Cathay. And because of that, hello again to Terminal 1.
I never remembered Terminal 1 having tissue paper in the Ladies' Room. They have now. They even have bidet! Hooray for airport surveys!
The Boeing 777 liner is a nice plane. Each seat has their own touchscreen TV and has a port to charge the Apple stuff.
Food was not as great, though. I still like the hot meals of PAL.
Hongkong, finally.
But, I was not done yet. I took the Airport Express to Kowloon Station.
Took the Airport Express Complimentary Shuttle to Hung Hom Station.
Then, took another intercity train.
All the way to Guangzhou... my first time in China.
The photos, I took inside the cab. Ended up in the hotel at around 9:30pm after a 12-hr journey from Manila. It was a great adventure but glad that was done. (More to come in my next posts!).
Oooh... I have a new toy. Boy, am I excited.
I decided to retire my ever reliable 5 year old Canon Point-and-Shoot.
Not because it has become unreliable but because I wanted to have a bit more advanced camera to keep up with my growing boy.
Experience tells that the best deals would be in the US. My Mom and sister had their rendezvous in the States so I took the opportunity. Since I have been a loyal Canon user, the obvious choice was also a Canon.
And so I got the Canon PowerShot ELPH 320 HS in black.
Pictures can go as high as 16.1 megapixels, 5X zoom lens and has full HD capacity. It is touchscreen so it has a large display and limited buttons to click.
Another thing I like about it is that it tells you what those functions are for. For a non-photographer like me, this is a great help.
But the best-est thing is its WiFi capability. I do not have to pop it open to get the SD card. I just have to connect it to the computer to transfer pictures and videos. Sweet!
Here are some shots using some of the non-photographer friendly features.
Using the Auto function.
The Toy Camera for a sort of Instagram effect.
The Miniature Effect which blurs the top and the bottom.
The Poster Effect.
The whole camera plus an 8GB SD card cost me USD281. Using PHP42 as the conversion rate, the price in local currency is around PHP11,800. If I keep it for 5 years (which I normally do), it's like paying Php2,300 per year. My sister said it was on sale when they bought it so considering that this was released only in February 2012, it was indeed a good buy.
Now, lemme buy a nice camera bag this weekend.
One Sunday, hubby and I decided that it's time for the little boy to experience going to museum. Guess which museum we decided to go to...
Yes... it's the Mind Museum located at the Bonifacio Global City.
Where 'Science Comes Alive!'
We first met Aedi. She was cute.
I found The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments interesting. They were basically the breakthroughs that changed the world.
Then, we were off to the Universe gallery. Was not a good idea to start with it. The little boy got scared of the dark. We missed the film showing. So, I guess he will not be an astronaut in the future.
He started to loosen up at the Earth gallery. He loves dinosaurs, that's why.
Love 'em, too... as long as they won't eat me.
Next, was the Life gallery which talks about the Human Brain, basically the different parts of the body, the cell and my favorite, the genes/DNA (I still remember the Punnet Square from High School.. hehe).
The Atom gallery was the little boy's most favorite. There were interactive displays. Electromagnetism started all the fun.
This was no fun for hubby and I... but the Table of Elements indeed brought back memories of Chemistry. I did hope it was more student friendly just like this...
The second floor housed the Technology gallery. This exhibit showed the quick look to the different technological eras of the world.
Our last stop was the Science Park which is a bummer because it would have been best if we went there during daylight. Not much of a wonder at night plus my phone camera did not cooperate. Additional lights would have made it more fun.
And oh, we went back inside... to the museum store. The store completed the modern-museum-abroad feel. The little boy did not go home without a souvenir, of course.
A 3-hour tour that costs Php600 for the adults and Php450 for the kids (Php150 for public school pupils) is a bit on the pricey side. It would have been lovelier (and more value-for-money) if there were more awesome interactive displays like those in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC (which, if I remember correctly, is free).
But, yes, this museum is a great start. Bringing forth more avenues for learning is what our growing country needs. I forgot to mention that the architecture of the building was a standout. Let this not be that last one.
