It is the 2016 GREAT British Festival weekend so do not forget to drop by the Bonifacio HIgh Street grounds.
I thought of writing about the one thing that constantly amazes me while working with colleagues from the UK... their idioms.
It has become a topic of conversation recently in the office so one of my colleagues volunteered to write an idiom for the week in our board with the definition and give examples of how to use it. But even before that, whenever I hear something new, I would google the meaning then send a quick email to my husband -- maybe we could use them in our conversations (not really)!
Here are some and how I understood them.
1. "throw your toys out of the pram" - You make a big deal out of a small problem.. therefore you act like a baby.
2. "running around like headless chickens" - You quickly do things with no control or no aim. Or doing things without a plan, very disorganised.
3. "can't see the wood for the trees" - You are unable to see the big picture and there is too much focus on the details.
4. "cut off your nose to spite your face" - You purposely go through an inconvenience just to annoy someone else.
5. "pull up your socks" - You double up your efforts to improve.
6. "in a pickle" - You are in a pretty big mess.
7. "handed a hospital pass" - A term in football where the ball is passed on to someone who will more likely be hurt... apply this to everyday life.
8. "the jury is still out" - There is no decision or answer yet.
Filipinos do have idioms - we call it "kataga". While writing this entry, I did some googling and was surprised that we use quite a lot of idioms in our daily conversations, too. Perhaps, if my UK colleagues can understand Filipino, they will also scratch their heads when we say "bukas palad" or "mababaw ang luha". And they might also make us write the kataga for the week in our office board.
The #GreatBritishFestival is only until tomorrow. Please join the fun.
A month after the Guangzhou-HK trip, I was back in the air.
It was Beijing this time... farther than HK so imagine my struggle in the plane. I was determined to overcome my fear because I have never been to the China's capital city before. So I resorted to my usual formula before any air travel... fervent prayers several days before the flight.
Beijing was huge. Perhaps, one of the more huge cities I have visited.
Let's start with the airport. The design is your usual modern airport except that it was massive.
The city is actually a large flat land mass so it makes sense to make everything big.
Streets are wide.
Buildings are grand. Check out the one below housing one of the largest TV networks in China.
Malls are big.
The one near our hotel actually has this enormous gazebo, the ceiling of which serves as a big, big TV.
Of course, I would not just talk about the city's size. It is common knowledge that Chinese history is rich. And since I am a self-confessed History nerd, I was super game for any temple watching.
From the hotel, my forever business trip companion Eric and I took the subway to Tiananmen Square. We got off at the east side and visited the famous Forbidden City gate.
Our attempt to go in was fruitless because the guards were actually leading people out... for a reason that both Eric and I could not figure (blame it on language barrier). While consoling myself to my plans of going back with the whole family, we saw another gate with less people coming in. We went in and paid RMB10. To our dismay, it was just a huge garden.
The most exciting view was this.
But a little more walk brought us to this wonder.
Lucky us. All for Php65.
The area was built in the 1400s. The Chinese ancestors walked these very steps and worshipped in this Front Hall. It was preserved very well. Wait til you see what's inside.
Eric was delighted.
It was, then, off to a short tour of the Tiananmen Square before calling it a day.
The tour of Beijing was super short but I enjoyed it alot. I would love to explore more and see the history. Next time for sure... with the little boy and hubby.
The journey back to HK was via train still. This time, officemate Eric was with me.
We arrived at around 8pm. No more crowds. It was better than Guangzhou's. And again, I kept on wishing for something like this to happen in the Philippines. Not even our airports can compare.
It was my nth time in HK but still very happy to be back. For me, it rivaled New York when it comes to the hustle and bustle.
We stayed in a hotel with a spectacular view of the harbour. I woke up to this.
It was right in the middle of shopping action - Causeway Bay! And it was sale season, my goodness.
For a whole lot of reasons, Causeway Bay was in UK fever. Since it was very much related to our work, Eric and I snapped away.
I have not gone to Hong Kong Park before. It was near the office so we spent some minutes to explore before heading back to the hotel/shopping.
During my last official night, I met up with my good friends in HK - Liezel, Bernice and Grace. Eric was with us. We all had a ball.
We broke out late already. Eric had to continue the business trip to exotic Ulaanbataar (happy that I now know someone who has gone there!), Bernice and Grace went their own ways, while I joined Liezel and bunked in her place.
Here's Liezel and her small but super cozy flat.
It's somewhere in Quarry Bay and the neighborhood is certified HK. My friend has indeed gone local!
Some more pictures of Quarry Bay before I left.
I realized that time spent with Liezel was soooo short. I should've stayed longer. But my little boy was waiting for his loot and I missed him terribly (hubby, too, of course).
Off to the HK airport which, for me, will always be awesome.
Did my last minute shopping and was lucky to see another wonder. It's my first time to ever see an Airbus A380 LIVE! One of the next short term goals is to ride that giant.
A few hours later, I was back at NAIA Terminal 1. It was not too bad but baggage claim area was just too small, the carousel just too old. Glad no one approached me for a tipped assistance. I guess that's one of the improvements.
Then a few minutes later, I was back in the arms of my boys. This was the part I loved the most.
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.
