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?
Aug 9, 2004
Jul 18, 2004
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.
-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.
Jul 16, 2004
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.
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.
Jul 9, 2004
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.
Jul 5, 2004
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.
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.
Jun 17, 2004
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.
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.
Jun 10, 2004
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.
Jun 9, 2004
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.
Jun 6, 2004
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.
Jun 4, 2004
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.
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.