Xmas Here and Gone

No big dinner with the other Filipinos, just a b-day dinner for Melvina, and Indonesian friend of Ryan's. Met some new "Flips," funny as hell. Wasn't able to deliver any (save two) of my presents, but that's okay. Still Xmas tomorrow (or later, to be precise). Managed to call home, but should've gotten a card w/ more load.

The snow's getting sweep and shovelled away, just as it's getting dirtier and dirtier, resembling beach sand. Just as well. I can't stand how the floor gets really messy after the ice and mud melt off my shoes.

Right now I'm typing blogs, chatting w/ Debbie, listening to MP3s and reading comics on the PC. Yup, definitely a different way to spent Chirstmas.

Snow Day

Went online to check the weather. It said, "snow." A look outside the window confirmed it. And there was a lot of it, clearly past 6 inches. Got a lot of decent pics, numb fingers notwithstanding. Even had Kym and Michelle over for a little takeout dinner and the latest episode of Desperate Housewives and The Simpsons.

Weekend Update

Scraped my knee, lost my bike and sunglasses, slightly sprained my left wrist, went rollerskating (I kid u not), saw Maricel off to the airport, drank beer mixed with Coke, witnessed snowing, called home, haven't gotten my soup pot back, chatted with Debbie (who's currenly in Hong Kong) and heard a story about Raffy involving his gas mask that's too odd to get into right now.

Yup, it's been a busy week. Had the blogger site been working properly I would've gone into more detail. Also finished the latest proofreading assignment this morning. Four in the morning, to be exact. Have yet to see a dime from any of the proofreading jobs, but I trust them not to screw me over. Or ELSE.

Turns Out It's Shitty Every Other Day

Crashed on my bike after saying goodbye to Debbie (the Canadian hottie). Bruised my knee and lost my shades(!) Had a cookout for the Manols and the departing Bacolod girls (Bea, Angelie and Jackie), as well as Danielle. Lugged around a lot of kitchen utensils.

Yet somehow the 2 good things that happened today outweigh the 3 bad ones. Now if you'lll excuse me I'll have to grab some sleep and see Bea (and Dess) off tomorrow at 6:30 AM.

Start of Another Shitty Week?

First I overslept. Then while getting my bike tires fixed again I noticed the rear mud guard was missing, and by missing I mean torn off/ ripped from the socket. That and the four holes the guy found in my tires (2 for each wheel) confirmed that this was an act of vandalism. Ended up missing 3/4 of my classes.

Now, after coming home from Chiristian's birthday dinner, Camy knocks on my door and tells me that she came home to find our apartment door "wide open." Luckily nothing was taken but the enormous carelessness on my part is still getting to me.

TAKU Me Out

A moment of indecision of whether or not to go to Club Taku was settled when Jackie called and said she needed guys to hand out roses to Bea, who turns 21 today (it's 4AM right now). Manol, Fernds, Carlos and I came late, nonetheless. 'Least the place had good music, but I'm still partially deaf at the moment.

Speaking of moments, several stand out. One, a "almost came to blows" kind between Belo and Tin (Ngo)'s friend. Two (and three, sorta) being Elaine dancing a wee bit to intimately with two guys I've never seen before. I couldn't tell whether she knew 'em or she was tipsy. I actually felt jealous, but more angry, particularly at myself, for just standing there and "letting" it happen. (Yeah, she's an adult and I don't her well enough to judge, but I could spend volumes talking about mixed feelings for this girl...but not today.) Nerelie got worried about the second guy and pulled 'Lainey away while I moved in to block to guy. A bit subtle, but I was definitely afraid of any confrontation that might have occurred.

Then there was Debbie (the Canadian one), all wasted and like a lame sitcom plot prevented by most of us from getting one drink too many. My guess is we failed miserably.

On thing I didn't stand for was when Ching and Kym tried to take off my shirt, followed by everybody else trying to get into the game. Like being asked to sing acapella (no, not tonight) was embarassing enough, but to strip? This, was...ugh. What did they take me for, drunk? Sure, I chugalugged Kym's beer (couldn't believe it myself), but that's it. Peer pressure can be such a pain, sometimes.

"Oh, The Weather Outside is Frightful..."

So thank God the party was delightful.
And to the students who'll be gone:
Party On, party ON PARTY ON!

The Xmas/Farewell party for the 3-month period students went off much better than the Halloween party(not that it wasn't easy to top, though), with games actually played and programs actually performed. Again some people didn't, couldn't and sadly wouldn't show, but no matter. A majority had a good time, and we had better music this time around, as well.

Came home around 11:30, so I called up Diedre we had a nightcap consisting of the last Simpsons episodes I had and some hot chocolate.

Signs of Shitty Week Ending...?

Body's still sore from my daily one-body-part-day workouts with Lyndon, though I skipped today since he "had" to catch an acrobatic show. Meanwhile I walked around all afternoon with my idiot landlord looking for a seemingly nonexistent office to deal with my (previously) disconnectd ADSL. Turns out all I had to do was go to the bank, fill out the form, then the bank calculates the amount owed. SHEESH.

On the brighter side of today, rehearsals for our dance number tomorrow night went well. Hope Manol and keep up his end of the deal, though.

And the Results are In...credibly Stupid

Boy, my midterm grades suck. Suck so bad, suck like a black hole and sucks so many donkey balls it's ridiculous. Even the ones I expected to do well in were sub-par. On the bright side, there's nowhere else to go but up, unless I like wallowing in the bottom heap, w/c I don't.

Rock of Nature

This past week or so I'd been getting sometimes painful, somtimes itchy sensations when peeing, not to metion a dull pain in my lower right side of my abdomen. Googgled UTI, but its symptoms were different. This evening I may have found the cause. While peeing I felt something... pop out. It looked (and upon further inspection, felt) like shiny petrified ear wax. Or a small fragment from a crystal cave.

Then I realized: Geez, it's a kidney stone. I actually passed a kidney stone. So it can fit thru the urethra... kinda cool. Ouch, still some pain.

Invited Diedre over tonight for a Simpsons mini-marathon, but then her sister called so she wasn't even able to stay past midnight. Slightly disappointing.

And I Thought Mandarin was Hard...coi

Missed tonight's satay (spiced goat meat on a skewer) eating contest at TAKU, but I'm guessing neither Arsenio, JP nor Dess won. Will confirm later. I was waiting for Maricel to call to tell me that they were going to the bar but no call came. Managed to steal some nap time, in the meanwhile.

Busy day, this last day of midterm exams, a cycle of hard-easy-hard-easy tests for me these past 4 days. After lunch I went with a buncha guys to shop for Xmas party prizes (some I agreed with, some not so but 'Nols was more in the spirit of things so whatever) and the bike lock I kept delaying to purchase. We came back late, but not too late that I missed my recording session with Nokia.

My turn at the mike. The Chinese rep just sat me in front of a laptap where I read 463 words and sentences, ranging from names of places and celebrities so lines from the Constitution. Being tired and a bit groggy I managed to flub a couple of lines, but me and all the other Pinoys who got into this knew that we could let this pass since the Chinese rep didn't understand a word we were saying. A bit unprofessional on my part, but 300RMB is still 300 RMB.

No homework, but still so much to do. Photos to edit, comics to read, TV shows to watch and immediately delete afterwards...

Oh, and in the world of coinkidinks: Manol's friend Carl? Turns out his employer is Engelbert.

Aladdin (the Disney one) Would've Approved

Geneva's birthday/ farewell party (she goes home on Friday) was at the 1001 Nights Restaurant, kinda like our school's Muslim resto to the 10th power. Good thing it didn't smell like it. Food was better, too, specifically the tuna paste appetizer and skewered beef main course. Indian music wasn't to my taste, but the 2 hotties who started dancing to the Indian/ Arab singer's tune weren't hard on the eyes. Hell, they were hotter then the real dancers the restaurant hired that evening.

Speaking of entertaining, a more colorful group of customers came in as we ate dinner: bunch of women wearing outlandish wigs (even the ones with seeming natural hair colors looked fake) and black t-shirts with a fake URL printed on the back (www.rachshensnightbeijing.com.cn). One of them even had a tiara, w/c led me three guesses, namely that one of them a) got married/ had a birthday; b) had undergone chemotherapy and lost her hair, hence the wigs or c) leaving Beijing the next day so she an her lesbian friends are in wigs for shits and giggles.

Hey, I never said they were good guesses.

On the Other Hand...

The PC's (or more specifically, the unlimited ADSL connection) is proving to be a distraction from my studies. And to think I once thought of having the thing stashed in some friend's apartment in Hua Qing, taking advantage of their Internet connection while at the same time distancing me away from this temptation.

Now I'm in apartment not questioning how I'm able to log on Blogger so quickly this time, as Saint Takeyourtime, the patrion saint of procrastination, looks down upon me..., a big, lazy smile upon his face.

On the upside, I might be able to get some more novel Xmas gifts to friends in the form of audio books, CDs, or maybe even porn.

Jeez, FINALLY...

Blogger's been a bitch to access these past few days. Short updates:

SUNDAY- Hiked up SiMaTai section of the Great Wall with a bunch of Pinoys (and 1 Indonesian). Almost got frostbite, but the 5:30-11:30 AM trip (with 2:30 departure time from Hua Qing) was worth it.

MONDAY- A stupid dream had me pissing myself. Dreamed I was using the urinal when alla sudden a hole pops out on my right side with piss coming out. The lack of blood and pain should've clued me in right away that it was a dream, but instead I ended up reliving my childhood mornings.

Had dinner with Dess, Jackie and Ange at their dorm, with Dess' adobo as the main course.

TODAY - While greeting Geneva Happy Birthday I found out that she's recovering from a concussion she received when she was recently attacked by a Korean student with a brick because he was supposedly offended by her short skirt. (Yep, my entries get too bizarre sometimes... but all true, nontheless.) First thought that came to my mind was to get a bunch of Pinoys together, find that guy and kick his ass. Unfortunately I heard he's been already deported. If not, well, Gene's unable to help in the identification department.

Was supposed to do a recording session today but my female counterpart literally jumped ship (or car, in this case) at the last minute. May reschedule.
Got a call from Ma tonight.

Weekend Plans

About 10 Pinoys (and Danielle) left for Guilin this (Friday) morning. Bea's set to go to Shanghai with her folks Saturday night. Shopped for gloves and thermal underwear (though I think I was shang danged again with the former) with Lyndon, Maricel and Dennis at Wudaokou. Had dinner then watched The Borne Supremacy at Dennis' apt. (the term pigsty may be an understatement, I'm sad to say) with them, along with David, Renee and "Jeek." All in all a quiet birthday celebration for Manol.

Party for the Parting

Just came back a hour ago from our surprise party for Manol (with a cake sporting a pig's body and horse's head), and before that it was a despedida party at Big Pizza for KV, who's going to Shanghai tomorrow to work for Coke. Met KV's cool friend Keiko (from Japan), who's another next door/building neighbor. Building 10, specifically. (Did I mention Diedre's in building 8?)

Diana and Mendel finally dropped by for a visit this afternoon. Fed them an apple. Fuji.

I have got to get around to studying. Midterm exams in 2 weeks.

Freezing Hills

Went to Fragrant Hills with Manol, Fernds and his girlfriend Abby (visiting). After the long bus ride we met up with Hy-C, her roommate Nat, Candice and newcomer Chloe. Maybe it was the weather (freezing) but the place wasn't as awe-inspiring as I thought. I think it was the fact that we never made it to the top of the hill that put a downer to the trip. Min Bao for dinner. Freezing weather makes me long for Nov. 15, when the heating for the apartment is scheduled to turn on.

Holloween

Just came back from a pre-Halloween party I helped organize, along with Arsenio and Ian at the From Now On Bar (run by Ian's friend). The party games didn't go over so well with the audience, which was why I stopped at the second one. Ditto for open mic volunteers (save for Ian, KV and Edison). Ironically it was the last minute planning of the "beauty contest" (featuring Arsenio, David, Lyndon, Dennis and Christian in drag and way too much make-up) that was the hit of the party. Perhaps the mistake was presenting the contest first, 'coz everything sorta went downhill from there. Managed to more than break even, though, but I'm still dispappointed not enough people came.

On the other hand, I made for a pretty good nerd, while Tin made for a decent guy.

Late Nights with Me

FRIDAY-EARLY SATURDAY-- Hung out at Kym/Rad/Michelle's place at HuaQing before heading out for PartyWorld for some KTV. Belted out a Spandau Ballet tune without a hitch and with a smattering of applause. Though I think some of the ladies were shocked by Rad's behavior, w/c couldn't be helped since the guy's been drinking since noon that. Got home around 4AM, w/c inspired me to finally do something about that bicycle by the stairway to the apartment.

Organizing a proper work/study/just live schedule is proving to be difficult. On one hand there's my really bad habit of procrastinating. On the other is my really bad habit of procrastinating. Oh look, it's almost 6. Time to shower.

New Zoo Review

Whole bunch of us "Asian Irish" went to the Beijing Aquarium/ Zoo. The former wasn't as bad as expexted, the latter same as last time (ie sucky), but at least the quality (and quantity) of the company improved. Some of us headed for Steak & Eggs for dinner afterwards.

Speaking of company, I'm getting some uncomfortably awkward vibes from Dianne. She's no longer comfortable (if she ever was) about my (admittedly) being a bit touchy-feely at times. What can I do? I hate working on nothing but instinct, but conversations to deal with it are never easy to bring up, much less get into. I just don't want things to start unraveling again with the Pinoys here. It was bad enough the first time. God, I hope I'm just being paranoid.

New Stuff

New bed fixture: no bed frame. The wooden base kept falling off the frame so I opted to just get rid of the latter. With all the lifting I did I opted to skip gym today.

New(ly) cleaned floor: since I was already on a roll with "fixing" the bed, I thought, Hell, might as well disinfect something.

New kitchen light switch: landlord finally came by to replace the fire hazard of a light switch in the kitchen. Wish he brought us a new can opener, too, but no such luck.

New books and documents to edit: no payment yet from the first assignments, though.

Hey There, Raffy Boy...

It's been barely a month, and already we have 2 Pinoys in Beijing as topics of gossip (which I think beats my record). First is David (not Atienza nor of the David and Lyndon duo), whose impersonation by Manols makes him out to be on a permanently stoned basis. I've only talked to the guy once so I can't really confirm that, but after 3 eyewitness accounts of his erratic behavior I can't help but wonder.

Next if Raffie, The Man Who Asks Too Much. I'm not sure if it's the kinds of questions he asks that rubs people the wrong way, or how he asks them. With David (Atienza), I'm sure it's the frequency of the questions: the same one over and over. He also has that problem with side comments, something I symphathize with, but nothing else. He's on his own to discover why people are gonna start hanging out with him less and less, just like me before.

Underwhere

Day 3 of new apartment stay (and day 2 of another week-long holiday) and I just now noticed that my stack of underwear is missing. (Never thought I'd get to type that sentence). Not in the suitcase, backpack or even the drawers, no pun intended.

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Home Improvement

Went shopping with Camy (and Manol, sort of, as we split up) for houseware at the warehouse place (whose name escapes me again despite saying it repeatedly all morning). Lotsa stuff bought, even a toilet brush and two desk lamps. Managed to "covertly" move some stuff to the new apartment, as well.

Speaking of moving, I finally got bumped up to C Class last Friday. Lots of catching up to do, especially with Yue Du. The dictionary's gonna be my best friend for now on.

Also got a package in the mail, courtesy of Allwin English, the company that hired me for the recording job. The assignment: proofread 106 pages at 6RMB a page before the October holidays. This would be less stressful for me if i didn't have C class to worry about.

And Anudda Thing...

Continued from previous post: Just got back from dinner at Jamie's (KV's ex) place, where Manol whipped up his specialy dishes of adobo and sinigang na baka. Jamie for her part made 3 salads (the maccaroni and fruit being especially good, I might add), 1 meat dish and ham, cheese and raisins on saltines. We were joined by Bea, Ne, Melissa, Fernd and Manol's Korean roommate. At least this gave Jamie someone to talk to in her "mother tongue."

Also just had one of the worst shower experiences: no cold water. With nothing to mix with the hot water I ending up using a pitcher and scalded myself little by little to rinse. Am expecting a similar pain-in-the-ass experience when I move to the apartment, as the heater for the shower is located in the kitchen.

First Day Snooze

Me, Dave and Aimee were the only (though I use term loosely, because as last night's dinner proved there are over 80 Pinoys studying in Beijing at present) Flips in the B+ classroom. Wanted to switch to C right away. The zong he teacher was okay, so I kinda felt sorry about moving.

Speaking of moving, for the past couple of days I looked at a couple of apartments with Camy, introduced to me by Ching. Yup, I'm moving out of campus. All for want of an unlimited internet connection. Small reason, big step, I know. At least the apartment's cheaper. Almost moved into Hua Qing, but landlord didn't to put up with us for just 5 months. Rent's due tomorrow.

Makes me wish I got paid more from my recording gig this afternoon. Yup, I'm doing voiceover work again. Along with Diedre (from Colorado) we read an English language book. Two hours and twenty minutes later I got 250RMB.

Friday Night Fever

Went with the old and new batch of Pinoys to Mix Bar, a first for many of us, including myself. Typical loud music and pushy bouncers (more on that later), but for the first time I got on the dance floor with no trepidation whatsoever. It helped that the Bacolod girls were really into it, all without the benefit in liquor. Not that they ordered any, afterwards. All dance but no drink. Sigh, and I just took the anti-allergy medication. Ran into Maddie inside in true long-time-no-see fashion.
While trying to get back inside Ian walked in at the wrong side of the velvet rope. Next thing I knew he was being brought out; arms locked behind him like he was under arrest, then kicked out. Swearing came from both sides, but the bouncers were in the wrong for being to short-fused.

Family Reunion...of s(h)orts

My folks (and Boit) came and went last week. Four days in Beijing, with me accompanying (and staying at the Red Wall Hotel with) them for three. Their tour package pretty much took us to the same places I went to in 2001, except maybe for the crystal and cloisonné factory (Point. Less.). We barely climbed the Badaling part of the Great Wall. Boit was bitching a lot about the tea ceremony, among other things.
Spent our whole free day in WangFuJing, where Ma got me a new shirt, jeans and winter clothes. Still need a new pair of gloves, though. They also brought me a bunch of stuff from back home, but my favorite is the CD of pics and videos of the kids.
They should be in Bejing by now. Hope they get me a digicam.

Shang Danged Vacation, Part Two

Sept. 3: Rode the 6:16AM non-express bus back to Guilin. The bus conductor didn’t seem to want us to get off when we saw a much faster bus that passed by. Got an upper-deck seat on the train and chatted with a 74-year-old lady who sat with us. Both actions didn’t last long. As soon as we reached our first stop we were booted out of our seats. Turns out the train ticket was good ‘til we reached Nanning (the transit point to Kunming), but not the seats. Luckily we found some on the lower deck, but I thought this is the last time we ask Lisa for anything. The shang dang streak continued when, while killing time at the local KFC in Nanning, my wallet was stolen, and D realized that we left the cakes and candies gift bag on the train! This has been one expensive stopover. Good service from the hotel receptionist and taxi driver, though.

Sept. 4: At 6:20AM I woke up to pee. An hour later I woke up, period. An hour after that our train arrived in Kunming. An hour later we were panicking because we had to choose between a 40-hour train ride from Kunming to Beijing or a 3-hour plane ride. The choice was easier for me since I was the only one that brought a passport. Finally I got the plane ticket (borrowing money from D) while D and Mens bought a train ticket to Xian, about 5 hours less than the Kunming-Beijing trip.
We barely made it to the a10AM bus ride to Dali. D, on the other hand, barely survived the bus ride. Some of the roads we so bumpy we saw a passenger on another bus puking amidst the dust storm the buses were kicking up. Five hours later we were at Dali. Two hours later we reached the Guesthouse. Had lasagna and cream of potato soup for dinner.

Sept. 5: I’m broke. Losing the wallet and buying the plane ticket wiped me out. Had to borrow money from D and Mens to pay for the tour and the guesthouse.
Breakfast buffet wasn’t bad at the Guesthouse. Accompanied by the tour guide and 2 recent graduates from Bejing Geological University (across the street from BLCU’s South Gate), the whole day was spent touring Dali. Old Bai minority houses. Bai ceremonies onstage. A spectacular glass house in a SuanNan fishing village with Japanese European influences. Traditional (read: handmade and expensive) tie-dyeing. A short boat ride to Putuo island, with its Buddhist temple situated in the middle (almost) of Ear-Shaped Lake. Lunch at GuanYuan village. Photo-shoot (and costume wearing for D) at the TianJing Pavillion. And a final boat ride across the lake back to the city of Dali-- only to get on another boat to witness cormorant fishing. The birds were tied by their necks to keep them from swallowing the fish they catch. Freaked D out when they started jumping onto the boat. The drizzling didn’t help, either. Dinner at eight.

Sept. 6: Got on the 10AM train to Kunming. We sat with a family of three. Their 19-month baby was exceptionally bright. Passed the time doing animal sketches for her. Reminded me of my niece Jasmine.
At 4:40PM I parted ways with D and Mens as they caught the time to Xian. I walked around downtown Kunming (used a Hotel bathroom and had fastfood for dinner), killing time before taking a cab to the airport. Flight was delayed by 40 minutes.
Upon arriving in the Bejing (around half-past midnight) I almost rode a gypsy cab with a bunch of teenagers who thought picking up strangers at the airport would make for a good living after college. One of them even asked me for some pesos to add to her collection. I passed on both the request and the ride when they wanted more than 60RMB. Ironically I ended up paying 83 RMB for a cab, though I would’ve paid 10RMB less had I not asked for “fa piao,” which the driver seemed to interpret as “pseudo lotto ticket.” Sigh. Shang danged at 2:30AM. The only pleasant surprise I received was the newly cleaned bathroom at my dorm, as well as a replaced toilet seat. You take your bright sides where you can.

Shang Danged Vacation, Part One

Presenting my trip down south of China with Diana and Mendel. Stops included Guilin, Yangshuo, Nanning, Kunming and Dali. One word to describe the experience? Expensive. The summary, please:

Aug. 30: Didn’t sleep. Figured I’d catch up on it on the 26-hour train ride to Guilin. Murphy’s Law moments included taxi driver dropping us at the wrong side to the train station, and our hard-sleeper beds not being in the same nook. And it’s only 9AM.

Aug. 31: Woke up at 6:45 AM. Backache from bad bed made for bad sleep. Dreamed that a bunch of comics I sent to the US got sent back to me. Chatted with a Guilin girl named Zho Wen Juan. She offered me part of her breakfast of egg and hotdog (instant noodle additives, apparently).
Upon arriving in Guilin (and an expensive lunch, a first of several seemingly “shang dang” moments we’d be experiencing) we got on an express bus to our main destination, Yangshuo. The place was incredible. West Street was embraced by hills and mountains, seemingly enveloping the town. I’m guessing the street was named as such to cater to the mostly Western clientele, as the cafes and shops would seem to indicate. Lots of cool DVDs, but a bit pricey. We stayed at Lisa’s Guesthouse in a quadruple-bedroom. Lisa herself reminded me of Mary “Rosebud” Ong, sans bizarre lifestyle.
Dinner was at the Stone Roses Café. The free internet service (offered by many of the eating establishments) barely made up for my sub-par sirloin steak and D’s shepherd’s pie. After dinner, cheap gelato (cheaper than Beijing’s, anyway) and an evening constitution I went back to Lisa’s while D and Mens had a massage.

Sept. 1: Breakfast at Lisa’s. Shang danged again. We had yet to experience a good meal. Afterwards we biked with our tour guide Sofia to Moon Hill. I rode solo while D and Mens got a tandem bike. D, for the most part, was scared silent since she didn’t know how to ride a bike. After switching to (and enduring) a scorching 2-hour raft ride (plus some more biking afterwards) I regretting not putting on sunblock.
Lunch was at Sophia’s “family friend’s” restaurant. Methinks the family business has more than just tour guiding involved. Afterwards we detoured to cave for a guided spelunking trip. The brochure said we’d get to experience swimming in clear water (as opposed to the mud holes they also featured), but didn’t say (and should have) we had to pay the whole 160RMB (we only paid half) to reach it. After the cave “tourist trap” we still had some energy left to climb up Moon Hill. The view from the top (and subsequent photo shoots) was worth the 10RMB, and, unlike the hill, much more satisfying.
It was getting late so we hastily biked back to Lisa’s. At night. With bikes that neither had bells nor reflector strips. Couldn’t talk much during the experience since I had to concentrate on the road and avoid accidentally swallowing bugs.
Speaking of dinner, we (as suggested by the 2002 edition of Lonely Planet) went and had beer fish (a popular West Street menu item) and taro balls at Susanna’s. Former bad, latter okay.

Sept. 2: Lunch at the Pizzeria finally broke our shang dang food cycle. Almost. We ordered too much food this time, thus shang danging ourselves. The whole morning was downtime ‘til the 3PM boat ride on Li River. It was great. Feet in the water, wind and too much sunblock on my face, giving me that Kabuki-foundation-make-up look. It kinda made up for the bumpy tricycle ride to and from the boat. You think horse riding hurts the nuts? Try their tricycles if having children isn’t an option for you.
Our final dinner in Yangshuo consisted of roast chicken at Café China. Good stuff. Afterwards we went pasalubong shopping. Cakes and candies galore.

Speaking of Dinner

Just had dinner with Jaycee, his parents, our Japanese roommates and their friends and the HuaQing girls at the Korean BBQ place acr0ss the Panda Restaurant. His family is just so over the top. And they sued Miss Lopez in Saint Jude! How could you not love them?

Updatem (duh)

New faces in the form of Fernan (Manol’s friend) and Jaycee, (friend of Aileen’s friend) have arrived. Old faces KV, David, Joyce, Di and Jella have returned, as well. A new Asian majority has come in the form of the Japanese, as all 3 Pinoys in the dorm (actually the only 3 Pinoys at the moment) have Japanese roommates. Mine speaks passable English (thank God) but no Chinese (so much for practice). Manol also suspects he’s gay, w/c doesn’t surprise me. The guy’s toiletry bag is pink, and I’ve never a man with so many Shiseido products in all my life.

Pinoys attended a dinner hosted by Manol’s dad, who, along with Manol’s uncle and cousin, arrived yesterday. Jay was there and for some reason was giving me a look. Hard to describe, but it’s kinda like the look I’d like to give Belo (not Jarvy--ever again) when he returns. I generally don’t give a bullcrap when a guy I hardly interact with gives me a look, but damn if I don’t get curious about it. I mean, I can’t even remember the last time I saw Jay, so what’s he got to be pissed about?

My relationship with my countrymen in Beijing has taught me that adages, “Familiarity breeds contempt” and, “Absence make the heart grow fonder” hold true. I get butterflies at the thought of the old batch of Dorm 6 (Tin Tin excluded) coming back. Actually I think it’s just Belo. God’s the amount of backbiting that goes on here makes me sick. Don’t tell so-and-so this and Lemme tell you about whasisname that. Sick of it.

And What Have You Been Doing?

Life in Bejing goes on as it goes… and it goes slowly. Formal classes finished more than a month ago. Did a few weeks of teaching and made decent money. (Had to, since I lost a bit of “chedda” from that travel agency fiasco).

At present only me and Manols are the only Pinoys left from the original February-July semester group that still live in Dorm 6. Everybody else moved to apartments outside campus. Suffice to say the inactivity is not as refreshing as one would imagine. Planning another trip to Inner Mongolia for the end of the week, sans third party organizers. After that, who knows?

BAD News good news

BAD news:
-Trip didn't push through.  Travel agent fucked up big time.
-Now "proud" owner of a 2000RMB computer.  More if you count the purhase of the speakers and CD writer.
-Lost my shoulder bag in the melee of getting off the crowded train, and, along with it, all the money ($1000+) for the trip.
 
GOOD news:
-Met new friends in the fellow travellers/victims, mostly from Hong Kong, like Jackie and Ken.
-Dropped my camera for the upteenth time, and it looks like the LCD display is busted, but I tinkered with it a bit, and it looks okay now.
-Anne called me for a job for the 19th-30th, 3 hours a day.  Okay, a chance to earn back a third of what I lost.

Almost Zero Hour

Due to leave for Inner Mongolia in 15 hours. Still haven't bought new shoes. Still haven't packed up completely. Still haven't moved stuff to Aileen's room for storage.
Got a new roommate. Akeen from Kenya/London. Met and had lunch with him and his friend Lisa from Finland.
Met new neighbor Fon (pronounced "Fawn") from Thailand and her "charge" of 3 minors, all brothers. Had dinner with them and Fon's friend Greg from Mexico at Nina. Greg said the food wasn't authentic. Well, at least the critique was legit.
Paid up back rent and reservation rent.
More surprising news: Sunny's going to L.A. next month for 6 months. Computer in my possession going to be a problem, since it was because of her that I was able to borrow it from her soon-to-be-former roommate. Talking about possible monthly deposits in a bank account as rental fee.

Almost Bored

Well, Tin's gone home, as well as most of the Dorm Sixers. Four Pinoys left here. AJ went to stay with Jay. Lorna's... out there, somewhere. Everyone else (still here) in their apartments. Funny how I now have plenty of time to watch DVDs, but lacking the enthusiasm to do so. Sigh.

FINALLY...So far...

After a few days/ weeks of the Blooger.com going whacko on me I'm blogging again.

So far I made a fair amount of cash (that I won't see) selling comics on Ebay. Backpacking preparations are slow but steady.

So far I almost done with pasalubong shoppping. Need to find Chinese lesson multimedia stuff (i.e. no flascards) for the kids, but it's being outnumbered by English lesson multimedia stuff 10:1.

So far I've meet a couple of new Pinoy students (and their foreign friends), namely Diana and Tina, both "1-monthers" with the former coming back next semester, which speaking of I already paid for in order apply for a 6-month visa extension.

So far I've not been able to get any new teaching jobs to fill the time between now and when we go backpacking, so I should really be scrimping more than usual. Plan to ask Tin for her dollars when she gets back from Inner Mongolia day after tomorrow.

So far the pictures are ready to be sent home. Though I have the time, the problem with having a lot of DVDs at hand is deciding what to watch first. Logically speaking it ought to be the ones that are going to Manila with Tin, not Punch Drunk Love like what's on right now. If that wasn't enough I borrowed Diana's copy of The Da Vinci Code, like I have the time for that. Hell, I haven't even finished a single folder-full of my downloaded comics. Sigh. Who would've thought free time'd be so hard to manage?

So far my highlight meals have been a night-out-til-dawn gettogether with Jella, Di, Joanne, Piyao, Tiffany, Ian and Manol at Jella and Di's apartment compound. Didn't even get an allergy attack. Also there was dinner with Geneva (from North Carolina) last week and lunch with KayWon (from South Korea) today, though in hindsight I shouldn't have let her pay.

So far I've been one lucky scavenger. Found an exercise bar, a pair of Goofy winter slippers, badminton rackets and watermelons (YES, they were clean), buncha DVDs (3 movies from which I haven't seen), glass, mug, English books for teaching and money. Yes, all 60 cents worth. I'm not homeless but I sure scourge through garbage like one.

So far I've been on 2 hiking trips, the last one just last Saturday. Aileen sprained her ankle, an incident I feel partially responsibly because it might not have happened had we simpy turned left instead of right. Left would've brought us to a waterfall almost immediately. Right gave us two tiring hours of hiking. No falls, just rock. Up and down rocks.

Hey We Made It!

The above post refers to 2 things. One: we made the papers! Online, anyway. Sure, they spelled my (Chinese) name wrong and failed to mention everyone else in the article, but HEY we got our picture online!
Two: 'Nols, Eileen, Tin (Palawan), Wendy and I hiked our butts off last Sunday at Xi Shui Hu, about 3 hours outside of Beijing. Nothing like small groups to make things more manageable. Got good pics out of it, too.

Not Quite as Hot as You-Know-Where, but Close

Day 2 of Beijing heatwave. Never experienced it before, not that I wanted to. It's 7:30 PM but outside it feels like the inside of a bathroom after a 30-minute shower. Hot summer night is right.

Photo Finish

As a unique way to kill the afternoon, I, along with Manol, Elaine, Jella and Joanne decided to catch the Olympic torch relay by Wudaokou. Amidst the blistering heat (hell, even my feet were burning) and lots of shoving as the really-short-lady with the torched passed by, I managed to get a perfect shot of her. At least I hope it's perfect. At the last minuted I was pushed so I'm not sure how the picture will come out. Still, some good stuff happened. A reporter for BeijingNews.com saw us with our Philippine flag and interviewed us. If nothing else comes out right I pray we at least make the 6 o'clock online news.

Bye, Ronnie.

Ronald Reagan died today at the age of 94. I first knew of him as President of the US. The "surprising" discoveries came later. He used to be governor of California? He was an actor? He's the oldest president voted into office? He was almost assassinated? He has Alzheimer's? My generation grew up during his 2 terms.Okay, so he wasn't the best president (hell, who was), but he was certainly one of the most popular.

So ANYway...

I'm still in Beijing. May stay here for the summer (as well as the rest of the year). Studying and teahing, studying and teaching. Very routine. If only I can add "went out with bevy of ladies" in that routine. Sigh.

Got a PC. By "got" I mean "borrowed" from my Chinese friend Sunny's flatmate. The PC came from the animation office he used to work for. When the office closed the PC had nowhere to go and just lay here in their appartment. Having no scruples whatsoever I borrowed it. Bought a CD writer, speakers, and had ADSL installed in my room a week later. Whee. And you think I slept late before...

My sister's have given birth. I miss my nieces and nephew like the dickens. Aunt came to Beijing last week and brought stuff in from Manila, thankfully. Lily's Peanut Butter. Ovaltine. My shorts, sandals and slippers. It almost feels like home again.

What I've Been Doing

Not much, I think.

Came home last December after a month and a half of going around the US. Came home to work the last 2 weeks of my job at Teleall. Got the severance check. Got plans to write a book (non-fiction reference). Got plans to go the China for 6 months of studying the language. Haven't seen Return of the King, but I'm about halfway through the 1st season of The West Wing on DVD. Have yet to see The 7 Samurai in it's entirety, w/c is why I haven't previewed the Pirates of the Caribbean DVD Wilson (and family) got me for Chirstmas.

My first movie of the year was Crying Ladies (slightly overrated), which I watched with Wella, who revcently dyed her hair brown (like the old color better). Met up with Rachelle and exchanged Xmas gifts. She gave me a dreamcatcher, I gave her porn and the rope bracelets I bought in San Francisco. Hmm, wonder who got the better deal.

So I'm currently unemployed, dividing my time with reading downloaded comics, downloading more comics, fidgeting with the internet connection and researching for the book. Trying to keep busy isn't easy, especially with a dad who has specific ideas for you and won't let you be idle around the house.